Damage investigation of Zn-Al alloy coatings on steel wires

Generally speaking the rockfall protection net wires are Zinc or Zn-Al coated. This provides to the net a durable protection against corrosion. Due to their function, the rockfall protection nets can be damaged over time, and must be replaced. The aim of this work is to investigate the damage that the wire undergoes when subjected to “U” bending, in order to obtain a significant stress. Furthermore it has been analyzed the behavior of a Zn-high Al coating in comparison with the coatings normally used.