Abstract: To address the unclear coordination mechanism between the air knife cooling effect and coating thickness control in the continuous hot-dip galvanizing process, an integrated coating thickness model and three-dimensional numerical simulation approach was developed. The study employed Fluent software to simulate the air knife jet flow field and systematically investigate the effects of different inlet pressures on coating thickness, temperature distribution, and cooling efficiency. The results show that as the inlet pressure increases from 10.0 kPa to 20.0 kPa, the coating thickness decreases from 20.5 μm to 17.4 μm. The static pressure of the air knife jet follows a Gaussian distribution, and the shear stress exhibits a bimodal characteristic. Concurrently, the increase in inlet pressure significantly enhances convective heat transfer efficiency, with the average heat transfer coefficient improving from 413 W/（m²·K） to 540 W/（m²·K）. This leads to an 8 K reduction in the average surface temperature of the coating, while the temperature difference along the Y-direction increases from 32 K to 46 K, and the temperature distribution in the Z-direction becomes more uniform. These findings provide a theoretical basis for optimizing coating thickness and uniformity, which is crucial for improving the quality of high-end galvanized steel products, such as those used in the automotive and construction industries.