Believe it or not, there are a few good reasons to galvanize aluminum. it is done far more than you might think. There are two ways of doing it, dipping and electroplating.

One reason is to reflect radiant heat. That is why they do it to roofing. Aluminum is a great conductor of radiiant heat, and that is the last thing you want on a roof in an area that is always hot. Galvanizing it increases its reflectivity significantly. In this case, corrosion resistance has nothing to do with why it is done, unless it is a metal frame building. (It is also done to reduce electrolysis.)

Another, (which is related to the first) is that aluminum does not have a very good mass attenuation coefficient, ie, it doesn't block radiation very well. (xrays, gamma, etc). Electroplating it with zinc increases it's ability to block radiation over 2 times, use a mixture of zinc and lead it is over 6 times. Very handy in the medical field.

That thing they lay over you to do an xray would weigh far more if it was all lead. The machines would be far heavier if metals other than aluminum were used as well. Something has to shield the electronics in the machine from the emitter, and anything that can save weight is a welcome addition.

 

/back to thread....

---

Some things are easy to explain, other things are not........ <- Store ->   <-Freebies->