Quantitative elemental analysis of FeZn‐alloy coating by nondestructive method

A quantitative analytical method of iron content in FeZn‐alloy coating by x‐ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum was proposed. This work aimed to replace the wet chemical analysis of FeZn‐alloy coating with rapid and reproducible quantification by an XRD spectrum. Partial least‐squares (PLS) model was utilized to differentiate the spectral characteristic as well as to quantify each component in XRD spectrum. Fifteen standard samples were prepared by heat treatment and verified by the relationship between wet chemical analyses and the XRD spectrum for iron content. The suggested method showed satisfactory precision and accuracy in the analysis of FeZn‐alloy coating. The accuracy for iron content in FeZn‐alloy coating was 0.17 wt%. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.