The paper presents the results of laboratory and industrial tests on the role of Al-10%Si coatings in the manufacture and use of welded aluminized steel tubes. The tubes were fabricated from DX53D + AS120 steel tubes coated with Al-10%Si coating. Investigations were carried out on individual processes in the manufacture of welded tubes aimed at determining the effect of the coating properties on the conditions of the forming process and vice versa. In the next step, a quality assessment has been conducted on the finished tubes. Then, selected tests simulating the operating conditions of tubes used for the elements of exhaust systems are presented. Analyses of the susceptibility of strips to plastic deformation and evaluation of the adhesion of the Al-10%Si coating to the steel base metal were carried out using bending tests. From the results, it was proved that the Al-10%Si coating determines the technical features of the workpiece material, affects the manufacturing process, and determines the quality of aluminized steel tubes. The quality of the coating surface depended on the annealing temperature and annealing time. The higher the temperature, the shorter the time needed to produce a change in the coating properties. A p-value reported from a tests is less than 0.05.
Keywords: Al-Si coating; SEM; annealing; open-joint aluminized steel tubes.