Abstract
Advanced high strength steels undergo recrystallization annealing in reducing gas atmosphere before galvanizing to improve mechanical properties. The selective oxidations of elements such as Mn, Si, Cr and Al during annealing decrease wettability of liquid zinc, resulting in bare spots and other defects. In this work, Fe-3wt%Mn steel sheet was annealed at $780^{\circ}C$ for 1200 sec. in 5% $H_2-N_2$ atmosphere and then dipped into zinc bath held at $460^{\circ}C$, which contained 0.2wt% dissolved Al. MnO crystallines in the average size of 200 nm were formed on the surface after annealing. It is estimated that MnO has been detached into bath with the formation and growth of inhibition layer with longer immersion time during galvanizing. No evidence of aluminothermic reduction of MnO has been found in this study.