Types of Abrasive Blasting

Nowadays, abrasive blasting is widely used in a lot of industries. Such as shipbuilding and hull cleaning, automotive repair and restoration, metal finishing, welding, surface preparation, and surface coating or powder coating etc. Abrasive blasting is commonly known as a method people use to clean or prepare a surface. Abrasive blasting can also be called sand blasting, grit blasting, and media blasting. How we define what types of blasting is based on the abrasive material it uses.

Types of Abrasive Blasting

1. Sandblasting

Sandblasting is one of the most popular blasting method people like to use for surface cleaning. The abrasive material is silica sand particles. Silica particles are sharp, and they can smooth the surface with a high speed. Therefore, people usually choose sandblasting for removing rust from metal.

The bad thing about silica is it can cause silicosis which is a serious lung disease caused by breathing in dust containing silica. Consider the health of the blasters, sandblasting has gradually fallen out of use.

2. Wet Blasting

Wet blasting uses water as the abrasives. Compared to sandblasting, wet blasting is a more environmentally friendly blasting method. It blasts without creating dust which also makes it a big advantage of the wet blasting. In addition, adding water for blasting make it smoother and more consistent finish.

3. Soda Blasting

Soda blasting uses sodium bicarbonate as an abrasive media. Compare with other abrasive media, sodium bicarbonate’s hardness is much lower which means it can be used for surfaces cleaning without damage the surfaces. Applications for soda blasting includes paint removal, graffiti removal, historical restoration, and gum removal, etc. In addition, soda blasting is also environmentally friendly. The only thing is that soda bicarbonate can cause damage to grass and other flora.

4. Vacuum Blasting

Vacuum blasting also can be called as dustless blasting since it generates very little dust and spill. While vacuum blasting, abrasive particles and the materials from the substrate are collected by a vacuum at the same time. Therefore, vacuum blasting can greatly reduce environmental pollution from abrasive particles. It can also protect operator’s health from breath-in abrasive particles.

5. Steel Grit Blasting

Steel grit is also a very common blasting abrasive. Unlike steel shot, steel grit is shaped randomly, and it is very sharp. Therefore, steel grit blasting is often be used on blasting hard surfaces.

Besides sand blasting, wet blasting, soda blasting, vacuum blasting, and steel grit blasting, there are still lots of different types of blasting like coal slag, corn cobs, and others. People choose the abrasive media based on their requirements for price, hardness, and if they want to damage the surface. There are lots of things need to consider while choosing the abrasive media.

People also need to choose materials for nozzles and nozzle liners based on the abrasive media they choose. At BSTEC, no matter which abrasive media you use, we have all types of nozzles and nozzle liners. Silicon carbide, tungsten carbide, and boron carbide are all available. Just tell us what you need or which abrasive media you are using, we will find the most suitable nozzle for you.