Abrasive blasting techniques

Abrasive blasting is used to smooth, roughen, shape and remove surface contaminants in a wide variety of industries. There are a number of variations on the process, such as shot blasting, bead blasting, wheel blasting and more. Each process offers its own advantages.

Vibra Finish, a company with extensive experience in finishing equipment and production finishing services, provides some information on the different blasting techniques on the company website.

Shot blasting 

Shot blasting is used to clean, polish and strengthen metal in a wide variety of industries. It can be used to prepare metal for surface coats, including paint, plating and overlays. There are many different types of media used for shot blasting, such as steel shot, copper shot, ceramic shot and more.

Glass bead blasting

Glass bead blasting involves blasting tiny glass beads at extremely high pressure to clean metal surfaces of external deposits like paint and rust. The metal will not be damaged by the beads despite the high pressure. This process is often used in the automotive industry to remove paint prior to priming and repainting, or to remove rust.

Shot peening

Shot peening is used to create a compressive residual stress layer and change the mechanical properties of metals. The process involves impacting a surface with round metallic, glass or ceramic particles using enough force to create plastic deformation. Unlike other blasting methods that operate by abrasion, shot peening uses the mechanism of plasticity, meaning each particle acts as a tiny ball-peen hammer. As a result, less material is removed and there is less dust.

Wheel blasting 

Compared to other blasting methods that use high pressure air, wheel blasting involves using the centrifugal force of a spinning wheel to propel beads. The beads can be propelled at an adjustable rate, which allows the abrasiveness of the clean to be fine tuned. This is an efficient method of blasting because the abrasive is recycled throughout the operation. Some of the different media typically used for wheel blasting include grit, pellet, steel shot or cut wire.

For more information on abrasive blasting techniques, visit the Vibra Finish website.

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