Understanding Steel Weathering As An Anti-Corrosive Measure

When using fasteners, one of the common goals for most people is to ensure that they end up with products that are protected from rusting. To this end, there are many things that can be done including galvanizing the relevant fasteners. In addition to that, one can also decide to use fasteners made out of a metal that is inherently incapable of rusting. A good example of this would be titanium. However, the problem with this approach is that such metals are usually expensive, which in turn means that the value for money may be compromised.

One workaround that most people are not familiar with is by weathering the steel fasteners. In a nutshell, this is a process that involves letting the fasteners rust. By doing so, the rust will then form a protective coating that will prevent the rusting from spreading to the deeper parts of the fastener. This will in turn ensure that the fastener maintains its structural integrity.

The benefits of steel weathering

One of the major benefits of weathering fasteners such as steel hex nuts or steel hex head cap screws is that it’s not very expensive. You don’t need to use a very complicated process or machinery in order to achieve the weathering; you only need to let it rust in a controlled environment. In addition to that, it’s also relatively effective. Most materials that are weathered properly tend to last a long time without needing any further treatment. These facts mean that they offer excellent value for money in the long term.

Cautions

When you use weathered fasteners, there are a number of cautions you need to keep in mind. One of the most important is to make sure that they are not paired with galvanized steel products. For instance, if would be unwise to use weathered steel screws to fasten a galvanized roof. This is because the rusting may spread to the galvanized product, which will in turn weaken its coating and cause it to rust. However, you can use weathered steel to fasten items made out of stainless steel.
It is important that you know the limitations of weathered steel fasteners, so that you can decide when to use them and when to avoid them.  Some of the most important of these include the fact that it’s not ideal for protecting square nuts or low strength nuts. If you have an application in which you may need to use these types of fasteners, you should consider using other protective approaches such as galvanization.

Common applications

The use of weathered nuts, bolts and other hardware is fairly common in many industries. However, they are most common in electricity transmission and distribution facilities.
If you are looking for a cheap but effective way to protect steel fasteners from rusting, you should definitely consider using weathering. This is an underused method of protection, but it definitely has its benefits as has been explained above. When the weathering is done correctly and the fasteners used in the correct environment, you will definitely note the benefits of steel weathering.