Blasting abrasives

Granular materials used in a blasting system (e.g. hanger-type blast machine, wire belt continuous blasting system, drum blasting system ...), which are brought into connection with the cast parts to be treated (blown, shot, spun) and thereby perform the blasting or cleaning work.

An exception to this is the hardening jet process such as shot peening and strain hardening.

The type of abrasive is differentiated into

The following conditions should be fulfilled for the selection of the abrasive:

High wear resistance (blasting abrasives test). The kinetic energy of the abrasive essentially depends on its grain size and decreases significantly with increasing grain splitting.

The grain size must be determined depending on the impact density of the abrasive grains, since there is a risk of warping and excessive roughening if the grain is too coarse.

In addition, sufficient coverage of the entire surface with blasting abrasives is not guaranteed. The opposite requirements - high kinetic energy with sufficient coverage - are best met with a so-called operational mixture. A mixture of different grain sizes forms during operation of the blasting system. Thus, there is an optimal grain size for every blasting work that meets both requirements.

The surface of the cast parts must not be roughened unnecessarily when blasting and it must be of uniform quality (surface quality).

The abrasive must have the correct hardness and strength depending on the cast material to be blasted.
 

Additional references:
Wire mesh conveyor shot blast machine
Hanger-type blast machine
Nonmetallic blasting abrasives
Metallic blasting abrasives
Stainless steel abrasive

  • Fig. 1: Example of metallic blasting abrasive (VULKAN INOX GmbH),
  • Fig. 2: Example of non-metallic abrasive – corundum (Airblast-Abrasives B.V.)