Shot Blasting: Why This Technique is Highly Effective Shot blasting has become one of the most effective and efficient tools for cleaning all sorts of surface areas from peening to layer preparation before repainting, polishing, removing grit, galvanizing, electroplating, welding, enameling, glass coating and rubberizing, etc. It is deemed a very cheap yet fast technique to be used in layer treatment. Shot blasting is useful for myriad industries, including the aerospace, ship building, rubber and steel industries and what not because its endurance is high enough to treat material of any kind yet it gives a consistent and uniform result because the impact is high and forceful. This method is highly recommended to give wonderful surface preparation as traditional manual scrubbing and filing is much more slower and expensive. With just a compressed spray of media, we can have just excellent area formulation and then it could be what surface we intend to get. It can be from uniformly fine, rough to matte, peened or scraped metal exterior.
To take the best advantage of this method, it is deemed necessary that we first study the type of material we intend to prepare. Let’s talk about the real benefits of shot blasting over and above other techniques often used for surface preparation.
Shot blasting is an environment friendly option for surface cleaning and preparation best done for paint coating and cleaning. It eliminates the usage of non-eco-friendly and harsh chemicals with ease. We always have option to cover a wider abrasive selection and a number of abrasive Medias have more than 30 times reusability status. Thus shot blasting gives very high production rates and better blast pattern accuracy. The final surface obtained is devoid of any chemical deposits, grit, rust or corrosion remains but shot blasting does not harm surface or virgin metal when removing scales. It gives the treatment very effective finish as the protective coat of zinc, paint or epoxy are best treated by compressed blasting method. It can also detect surface faults or defects and correct them. There is increased longevity and durability of protective surface coats as it becomes more compliant with environmental conditions than any other process and the shot blast has a scale free surface.
There are a few more reasons why the manufacturing industry prefers shot blasting for their surface preparation requirements. The primary cleaning media in shot blasting uses small steel pellets or shots, many other types of shot blasting materials are also used. But let’s take a look at the most commonly utilized shots: Steel Shots – There are very tiny steel balls available in diameter from 1 to 6 mm which are fired from the nozzle at very high speed against the surface being prepared. The size of the balls and the material to be targeted must be proportionately determined to achieve the finishing. While smaller steel shots are used for polished surface, larger ones gives a rougher finish. Steel Grit – Steel grits are somewhat angular and give a rough surface pattern. Blasting with steel grit is used generally for surfaces which require aggressive cleaning like removing dirt or rust or chemical contaminants from steel or any other metal. Chilled Iron Grit – These too are angular, abrasive material used for general blast cleaning. Typically used for removing oxides and paints from ferrous castings and carbon steel, the method is quite harsh and not intended for softer metals like aluminium. However, there are other media for softer preparation like corn cubs, walnut shells that have the most suited result in wood surface cleaning and polishing. Shot blasting is wholly dependent on the type of result we got to require.