Introduction:
Sand blasting is also known as abrasive blasting.
It is a process where fine granular sand is applied high pressure against a
rough surface keeping in mind the end goal to smooth that surface out. In this
process, the abrasive material is pushed, either with a fluid or a gas
(ordinarily pressurized air) through a nozzle onto an odd surface. Sand
blasting can be applied on wood, dividers, and different surfaces where smoothness
is required for paint or different applications. Sandblasting is a quick, powerful, thorough, and safe
process It is one of the best ways to prepare an object for high-performance
coatings like powder coating.
Types
of Sandblasters:
Pressure
feed blaster: The media is stored within the pressure pot and then
it is sealed. The media goes through the valve and into the compressed air
stream, which is placed in the blast nozzle. The nozzle accelerates the media
and it impacts the surface of the components.
Suction
feed blaster: In suction feed blaster venture siphoning action is
used. It draws the blast media into the compressed air stream and then to the
nozzle.
Sandblasting
parts:
● Nozzles
● Blast
hose and couplings
● Air
hose and couplings
● Vacuuming
hose
● Valves
● Abrasive
Traps
● Regulators,
gauges and Filters
● Control
handles
● Blast
Lights and job site lighting
● Junction
Box Assemblies
● Lids
and screens
● Remote
Control Kits
● Blast
Suits and Gloves
● Cabinet
components
● Cabinet
Gloves
● Filters,
Filter Bags, cartridges
● Fittings
Materials
Used for sandblasting:
Following
Materials are used in sandblasting process-
● Sand
● Copper
Slag
● Steel
grit
● Powder
abrasives
● Small
pieces of walnuts
● Pieces
of avocado shells
Pros
and Cons of sandblasting:
The pros
(advantages) of sandblasting are:
●Quick removal of impurity: This process helps in quick removal the
contaminants on different surfaces.
● Abrasive action: The materials which are used in the step are highly
abrasive and have an aggressive action on the surfaces.
● Fit for tough/rough surfaces: The powerful action of the process can
remove deposits even from tough surfaces like concrete.
● Less machinery involved: This process does not make use of complex
machineries.
The Cons
(disadvantage) of sandblasting are:
● Abrasives: The abrasive used in the process is very rough and if used
regularly for a particular surface, then it will wear away the surface.
●
Use of silica: In most of the country, sand is used as abrasive in the
process which is banned because of different health hazards.
● Requires precautions: A lot of precautionary steps have to be taken in
order to prevent different types of hazards like you have to cover all parts of
the body that are exposed to the process. Covering up of body parts will
prevent the abrasives to enter into the body.
● Not suitable for smooth surfaces: Mobile sandblasting is usually not
suitable for cleaning smooth surfaces because of the abrasives used. Rather you
can make use of soda blasting which employs the similar procedure but makes use
of sodium bicarbonate.
● Heat generation: The process of sandblasting includes projection of
particles with high velocity, so when these materials hit the surface, a lot of
heat is generated which can harm the surface.
However, through this process, one
can easily remove the contaminants on different surfaces and have an aggressive action
on the surfaces. This process can also easily remove tough surfaces like concrete.
Therefore this machine and process have their own independent use for different
type of the surface preparation.
