Hot dip galvanized coatings with minor amounts of antimony or lead wer
e evaluated with respect to their surface appearance, corrosion behavi
or and spangle orientation. The coating surfaces with many crater-like
pits and a higher surface density of spangle boundaries were more sus
ceptible to corrosion attack. The surface of bright spangles was paral
lel to the (00.1) plane and was crystallographically more homogeneous
than that of dull spangles whose surface was mostly parallel to the (1
0.1) plane. This seems responsible for higher corrosion resistance of
bright spangles than any other spangles. Antimony existed within the c
oating rather than on the coating surface. Electron diffraction patter
n from antimony-containing phase showed Sb2Zn3 structure.