A588 weathering steel is different from ordinary steel. At the beginning, it will also rust on the surface like ordinary steel. Due to the high degree of alloying, this process is even faster than ordinary steel. However, due to the more complicated lattice inside the
weathering steel, a dark black dense rust layer is formed under the loose rust on the surface.
This rust layer consists of nano-particles of α-FeOOH. In this uniform rust layer, the nickel atom replaces the position of a part of the iron atom, so that the rust layer has cation selectivity, and the corrosive anion permeation is suppressed.
The specially designed alloying elements in the A588 weathering steel sheet provide a protective layer, which in turn produces a corrosion inhibition effect. The protective layer on the surface of the weathering steel will slowly grow and regenerate with the influence of weather. In short, the steel is formed by the surface of the scale to form a protective layer.
