Sandblasting / Abrasive Blasting

Sandblasting (Abrasive Blasting): Industrial Surface treatment

Sandblasting / Abrasive Blasting

Sandblasting, more accurately termed abrasive blasting or grit blasting, is a surface preparation technique in which a stream of abrasive material is propelled at high speed to clean, smoothen, or roughen the surface of a material. It is commonly used for cleaning, creating an anchor profile, deburring, desanding or  creating a desired surface finish.

Grit blasting involves the use of compressed air, water or a rotating wheel (turbine) to propel abrasive particles (grit or shot) at a surface. When these abrasive particles hit the surface, they remove contaminants such as rust, old paint, mill scale, or they can create an anchor profile for the coating system to adhere to. It can also be used to smoothen surfaces, strengthening steel (peening) or delicately remove contaminants.

There are various methods of abrasive blasting as mentioned below.

Compressed air blasting

Compressed air blasting involves the cleaning, smoothing or shaping of a surface by striking it with abrasive blast media, through a stream of compressed air. This method basically requires a blast pot, blast hose, blast nozzle, compressor and protective clothing for the operator. This method can be done in the following set ups

Open blasting

When the abrasive blasting needs to be performed on location out in the open. Often done for the maintenance of bridges, ships, offshore platforms, pipelines, boilers, large vehicles or equipment etc. But also the cleaning of concrete, stones / bricks or monuments.

Blast room

In a blast room the dust is contained and collected and the abrasive blast media can be recycled. This offers cost savings in terms of abrasive costs and disposal of the spend abrasive. Using a recyclable abrasive creates less dust and blasters have a better visibility on the work to be done.  In a blast room the work can also be fully automated by robotic blasting. Especially when large surfaces needs to be blasted continuously, the return on investment on a robot is very short.

Blast cabinet

When blasting smaller work pieces a blast cabinet is used in many work places. The blaster stands outside the small blasting chamber and reaches in with his hands to use the nozzle and blast the small objects. Airblast has pressure blast cabinets and vacuum injection blast cabinets available and they can also be completely automated to save costs when big quantities need to be blasted in a factory environment.

Wet Abrasive Blasting

Wet abrasive blasting is a surface preparation technique that combines water with abrasive materials to clean, descale, or prepare surfaces for coating. It is often used in façade cleaning, removal of graffiti and soft cleaning monuments.  Wet abrasive blasting involves mixing water with abrasive particles and propelling the mixture at high or low velocity to remove coatings, rust, contaminants, graffiti and other surface imperfections. It is slower than traditional dry sandblasting and doesn’t create as much surface profile, but wet abrasive blasting minimizes dust, which is the main advantage.

Wheel blasting

Wheel Blasting or shot blasting is an abrasive blasting process used for surface preparation, cleaning, and finishing of metal components. It involves the use of a rotating wheel or turbine that propels abrasive media (mainly high carbon steel shot or grit) at high velocity onto the surface of the workpiece. The impact removes contaminants, rust, mill scale, or old coatings, creating a clean and textured surface. The dust is extracted from the working mix of abrasives and the clean blasting media come back into the system for another cycle.

Stationary wheel blast machines are mainly used to blast steel plates, beams, pipes and small structures, but also for deburring and cleaning casted products in the foundry industry.

Portable wheel blast machines, the Blastrac shot blasting machines, use the same principle and can be used on location, mainly on large flat steel surfaces, like ship decks, oil platforms, helicopter decks and bridge decks

Bead Blasting

Glass bead blasting is a type of compressed air blasting that uses small, spherical beads made of glass as the abrasive material to clean, smoothen, or finish surfaces. This method is particularly valued for its ability to create a smooth, polished surface, without significantly altering the shape or profile of the surface. As it is nonmetallic blasting media it can be used on many base materials and is often used to esthetically improve stainless steel work pieces. With the right abrasive and equipment, the specifications for food grade and medical industry can be met.

Vacuum Blasting

Vacuum blasting equipment combines the traditional compressed air blasting technique with a built-in vacuum extraction system. This method is designed to clean, strip, and prepare surfaces for further treatment, while minimizing dust, debris, and environmental impact. Because the media is automatically separated from the dust and loose particles, it can be reused several times. Thus reducing costs related to blast media consumption and disposal of spend media. The solution is slower and less versatile than normal compressed air blasting, but it creates no dust and it reuses abrasives. Strong  machines like the AB1070 can use the cost efficient media steel grit, for very low abrasive consumption.