Types Of Shot Blasting Machines And Their Uses

By Author: Brian Wilson
Total Articles: 13
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Shot blasting, the name itself defines the process of blasting series of shots on the surface of metals. The blasting of materials is done in order to clean the surface of the metal to remove the unwanted deposits. There are different types of shot blasting machines and a particular type is chosen as per the project handled. The classification of the blasting machines is done on the basis of their cleansing purpose. The different types of machines are:

1. Batch type shot machine: This type of machine is used for cleaning and casting. These are compact devices and posses high cleansing capacity. These are great equipments and are capable of removing the unwanted particles even in the curved areas of the surface. The batch type blasting is used for de-sanding, de-scaling and de-coring of the surfaces.

2. Feed shot blasting type: It is used when continuous blasting of the abrasives is required on the surface. It is known for its consistency and the degree of cleaning is same for all the surfaces. The process is continuous and requires a short distance between the nozzle ...
... and the surface.

3. Hanger type shot blasting machine: Apart from the metals, there are certain brittle surfaces like glass which are vulnerable to breakage. These materials require a special type of blaster which cleans the surface without causing any damage to the device. For such materials, hanger type shot blasting is used.

4. Manipulator type shot blast machine: This type of machine is the most used of all machines because of their excellent cleaning effect.

There are different companies which follow different type of cleaning process. Only the experienced professionals can know the use of proper method at the proper time. The different types of techniques used by the experts are:

• Wet blasting: This type of blast cleaning is done with the help of water. The reason for choosing water to blast it on the surface is to minimize the harsh effect of other abrasive materials on the surface.
• Dry Ice blasting: Dry Ice is used to remove the contaminants on the surface of the materials. It is not as harsh as other abrasive materials, but explodes on the surface of the materials when projected with very high velocity.
• Bead blasting: This process is used for removing paint and to polish the surface. It makes use of tiny glass beads which are propelled onto the surface. Compared to the sand, glass are preferred more to polish delicate surface.

There are other processes which do not make use of a blaster for blast cleaning like wheel cleaning and bristle cleaning.

• Wheel cleaning: It is done by pushing abrasive materials across the surface which is to be cleaned. It is done in the absence of air.
• Bristle cleaning: It is one of the traditional ways of cleaning the surface which makes use of steel wires fixed over the surface of the material to remove the foreign particles and to polish the surface.