What is Shot Blasting?

Shot blasting is a cleaning process in which minor metal balls, known as shots, are used to clean surfaces. The shots are blasted at high speeds onto metal, concrete, or other materials.

The strong impacts of shot blasting clean rust, paint, dust, and dirt from the surfaces and smoothens rough sections. It is usually done before painting or coating so that the top layer may adhere better and serve longer.

This process is fast and effective. Large machines are used on larger surfaces; construction, shipbuilding, and automotive industries are ideal examples.

Shot blasting enhances the strength of metal parts while keeping surfaces visually clean and polished. As such, it is a safe and environmentally friendly method because it eliminates the use of chemicals.

What is "blast media," and how do I choose the right abrasive for my needs?

"Blast Media" refers to the abrasive materials used in surface preparation processes like cleaning, polishing, or finishing. Choosing the right abrasive depends on your project requirements — factors like surface type, desired finish, and material hardness play a big role. From gentle glass beads for smooth finishes to aggressive steel grit for tough jobs, Quality Spare Centres offers a complete range of blast media to suit every application. Need help picking the right one? Our experts are here to guide you!

Types of Blasting

1. Grit Blasting

Grit blasting denotes the technique of taking angular or sub-angular particles for cleaning or profiling hard surfaces. The method is like sandpapering but is exponentially faster and provides an even and uniform finish, ideally suitable for the removal of tough coatings and surface preparation prior to further treatment.

2. Wet Blasting

This method is typically preferred in maritime and outdoor applications. During wet blasting, the water helps to cushion the abrasive media and also prevents excessive dust emissions. It might work at a much slower rate than any dry system, but it compensates for this with its effectiveness in scenarios where dust control is paramount. Caution: some metals are liable to quickflash rust from moisture.

3. Bead Blasting / Shot Peening

Bead blasting or shot peening performs the process gently on a surface with round media, creating small dimples on the surface. Unlike abrasive blasting, it induces plastic deformation to promote surface strength with minimal material removal. It is widely used on some critical parts, like gears, suspension springs, and turbine blades, to relieve stress and prolong life.

4. Wheel Blasting

The wheel blasting laboratory propels abrasive media by centrifugal force created by high-speed rotating wheels in an enclosed environment. Best-suited in batch/large-scale manufacturing industries, it conveniently cleans and strengthens surfaces and finds applications in automotive, foundry, and structural steel industries.

What are the Advantages of Shot Blasting?

These days, Shot blasting machines are being used in almost every industry that uses metal, foundry, shipbuilding, automotive, construction, railways and shipbuilding industries etc. Shot blasting is Machine and Method also which is used to clean, strengthen and polishing the metal surface preparation. Now, Shot blasting Method has become a vital part of steel structure and metal building companies. It provides two major benefits which are as follows:

• It helps to remove all rust, mill scale, and corrosion, thus eliminating moisture which is entrapped beneath these corrosion products.
• It also provides an ideal surface finish for securing a continuous and effective bond between the steel surfaces.

Meanwhile, there are several benefits of shot blasting from removing corrosion to the Surface preparation and most importantly, it is environmentally friendly. Let’s have a look at the advantages of the shot blasting.

The Advantage of Shot Blasting:

Removing corrosion: Shot blasting helps to remove rust and corrosive materials from the surface. Meanwhile, corrosive builds include rust, chemical stains, faded paint, mill scale and heat treatment scale etc. Surface preparation: It is the most efficient and effective process to prepare a metal surface prior to painting or coating and make them smooth.

• A much better bond between blasted surface and the protective coating.
• High blast pattern accuracy
• Increases the lifespan and the endurance of future coatings.
• Aids in revealing any surface defects.

The environment: This is one of the best environmentally friendly options for corrosion removal and surface preparation to painting or coating.

• No chemicals used at all
• No acids
• The only cleanup is physical pellets
• The process only uses abrasion to clean the metal surface
• Shot blasting Minimizes Operation cost, Maintenance cost
• Shot blasting eliminates the usage of non-eco friendly and harsh chemicals
• Shot blasting provides higher production rates, wider abrasive selection and better blast pattern accuracy
• In this process, dust is swept away by powerful vacuum and dust collection system available in shot blasting machine.

Along with the advantages of the shot blasting machine, we also need to discuss the shot blasting technologies. Generally, there are two types of technology which can be seen as follows:

Technologies:

Wheel Blasting: In this tech, abrasive media is propelled on the workpiece to be blast clean, using directly converting electric motor energy into kinetic energy by rotating it through the wheel. Hence, it is an airless blasting operation because there is no use of air, liquid or gas to propel the abrasive media in the shot blasting operation.

Air Blasting: In this technology, abrasive media are propelled with the help of compressed air pressure. The abrasive blasting pot and the dust collector, and the abrasive recycling system work together in the blasting chamber. From shoveling to sweeping the abrasive back into the blast pot to full reclaim floors that convey the abrasive to clean the surface. However, it is mandatory to get the best shot blasting machine for better performance and get the desired results for surface preparation.

Quality Spare Center is one of the leading Shot blasting machine manufacturers and the best quality abrasive suppliers in India. Get in touch with the experts to get a better solution related to your shot blasting process.

Shot Media Recovery

An efficient shot blasting process depends on the recovery of the shot media. After which used steel shot and angular shot media fall down into a hooper located below the blasting chamber. The blast wheel, powered by centrifugal action, accelerates fresh media onto the surface.

Suspended media is recovered from the vacuum system that transports it to the recovery unit. Where separators help to extract dust and broken particles to allow cleaning and return of reusable cut wire and steel shot back to the hooper. This cycle runs continuously to ensure the quality of the media and conservation of waste.

Properties of Shot Blasting Media

The properties of shot blasting media play a key role in surface preparation. Media like cut wire and angular shot blasting media offer aggressive cleaning due to their sharp edges. Hardness and density determine how well the abrasive material performs under compressive force.

When used with a centrifugal blast wheel, high-velocity pellets impact the surface effectively. Mesh size controls media grading, ensuring consistent results. Eco-friendly options, such as nut shells, provide environmental friendliness. Selecting the right media balances efficiency, durability, and sustainability for optimal blasting performance.

Materials Used in Shot Blasting

Shot blasting is used to process a wide range of materials, from mild steel and cast iron to advanced technical ceramics and titanium. The centrifugal wheel propels high-velocity pellets of abrasive material for effective surface treatment.

Shot blasting media includes both synthetic materials and agricultural materials, depending on the application. It is widely used for rust removal and deburring, ensuring clean and smooth surfaces.

Selecting the right media enhances efficiency and protects the integrity of the processed material.