Corrugated galvanised iron
Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron, wriggly tin, pailing, corrugated sheet metal, zinc or custom orb / corro sheet (Australia) is a building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised mild steel, cold-rolled to produce a linear ridged pattern in them. Although it is still popularly called "iron" in the UK, the material used is actually steel, and only the surviving vintage sheets may actually be made up of 100% iron. The corrugations increase the bending strength of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the corrugations, but not parallel to them, because the steel must be stretched to bend perpendicular to the corrugations. Normally each sheet is manufactured longer in its strong direction.
Corrugated galvanised iron roofing in Mount Lawley, Western Australia
A corrugated iron church (or tin tabernacle) in Kilburn, London
Typical corrugated galvanised iron appearance, with visible large flake type patterns. The galvanised sheet is viewed from below and is supported by a piece of angle iron (painted white).
Early manual corrugated iron roller. On display at Kapunda museum, South Australia
Hot-dip galvanization is a form of galvanization. It is the process of coating iron and steel with zinc, which alloys with the surface of the base metal when immersing the metal in a bath of molten zinc at a temperature of around 450 °C (842 °F). When exposed to the atmosphere, the pure zinc (Zn) reacts with oxygen (O2) to form zinc oxide (ZnO), which further reacts with carbon dioxide (CO2) to form zinc carbonate (ZnCO3), a usually dull grey, fairly strong material that protects the steel underneath from further corrosion in many circumstances. Galvanized steel is widely used in applications where corrosion resistance is needed without the cost of stainless steel, and is considered superior in terms of cost and life-cycle. It can be identified by the crystallization patterning on the surface (often called a "spangle").
Galvanised hand rail
Crystalline surface of a hot-dip galvanized handrail, known as "spangle"
Protective effect: completely rusted letter box mounted to a hot-dip galvanized wall