Choosing an appropriate corrosion resistant material or finish to meet different requirement of application is always a key point at specification stage of a cable supporting project. Maintenance against corrosion of metallic cable tray system installation is generally impractical. Therefore correct choice has long term influence and is crucial to ensure the lifetime and aesthetics of entire installation.
Generally speaking, the material used for metallic cable tray system is stainless steel and mild steel with diverse finishes. According to the different properties, they are applied to different intended environment.
Stainless Steel
For the most application, stainless steel could be considered as maintenance free and suffering no corrosion, which is also popular for aggressive environment or where hygiene is a main consideration. For example, SS304 cable tray is frequently used for food and beverage industry while SS316 & 316L is widely used for marine environments.
Pre-galvanized (PG)
Pre-galvanized cable tray means that the tray’s galvanizing process is prior to subsequent cut and bend process. Therefore the edge cut of the finished cable tray will have no zinc coating as a protection. Together with the relatively light zinc coating applied by the process, PG cable tray supports suitable for indoor, low-corrosive environments as well as a lower price.
Electrogalvanizing (EZ)
Electrogalvanized coating is generally used for indoor applications where a low degree of corrosion resistance is acceptable. Combined favorable price with bright zinc plating, electrogalvanizing is often the first choice for internal environments. However, an important problem of this finish is that zinc whiskers will generate from electroplated metal surface which can induce failures like downtime, electrical fire.
Hot-Dip Galvanizing (HDG)
Hot-dip galvanizing after fabrication is an extremely effective and economical corrosion resistant finish used on cable support system in outdoor or aggressive environments. The life of a zinc coating is directly proportional to its thickness but in different environments this life does vary.
Powder Coating (PC)
Powder coating may be applied as a protective finish but more generally it is requested as a decorative layer applied to systems already protected by a zinc coating. Rich colors are available to meet modern color management concept of data center.
Nickel Plating (NI)
Nickel plating in Vichnet is also named nanotechnology of metal alloy coatings (NMAC) which uses a redox reaction to deposit a dense, uniform, high-binding nano metal or alloy film on the surface of a workpiece. Therefore nickel alloy coating could be the most cost-effective surface finish bonding the metrics of economy, aesthetics, superior wear resistance and corrosion resistance, and eco-friendly property together.
