Steel Shot
Round and smooth, it is ideal for a variety of blast cleaning applications such as removing sand from castings, scale from forged parts, rust from structural steel, and special applications such as shot blasting to give aircraft engine turbine blades and fuselages, etc. The metal surface compressive strength of a component. The surface finish produced by using steel shot depends on the size of the shot used and the hardness of the workpiece being machined. Pellets are often used to clean and prepare component surfaces prior to painting.
Angular and sharp edges ideal for faster, more thorough cleaning, often used in air blasting chambers where operators direct the blast hose towards the parts being blasted to remove paint, rust and scale from metal surfaces . Depending on the size and hardness used, steel grit can provide an etched or rough anchor-grained surface, ideal for strong adhesion of paint coatings. Due to their high recyclability (200x), non-recyclable abrasives (less than 5x) are commonly used in structural steel applications such as ship and railcar manufacturing. Another significant advantage is its ability to be used at lower air blasting pressures and still achieve similar results to other abrasives used at higher pressures.
Size basics
Steel shot and grit sizes range from fine to coarse, and the choice depends on your application. Sizes are usually classified using numbers such as S170 or G25. For steel shot, "S" means steel shot, and for grit, "G" means grit. The following number indicates the size.
Based on application size
Surface cleaning
Light Cleaning: To remove light rust or thin layers of paint, you'll want to use a finer grit or grit, such as S170 or G50. These finer particles are less corrosive and prevent unnecessary surface damage while still producing an acceptable surface profile for coating applications.
Heavy Cleaning: For dense rust, multiple layers of paint, or scale, a coarse grit like G18 or G25 may be more effective. The corrosive nature of coarse grit ensures thorough cleaning, but creates a rougher surface that requires more paint to fully cover the surface.
Shot peening
Steel shots are manufactured in hardness ranges to automotive or aerospace specifications and are typically used in shot peening applications. Media dimensions are often indicated on part drawings to make it easier for users to determine the correct product for their application.
Sandblasting surface contours
Abrasive blast cleaning, which creates surface texture on components before applying a coating, is the most common blast cleaning operation in the industry. Steel shot or a mixture of steel shot and grit is typically used in automatic sandblasting machines, while smaller sizes of steel grit are often used in air blast chambers to clean complex geometric parts with hard-to-reach areas.
Equipment and cost considerations
The size and hardness of the abrasive also affects the maintenance costs of your sandblasting equipment. Typically, steel shot produces less equipment wear than sand grit, which means lower maintenance costs, but this is not always the case. The standard hardness of steel sand is also 40-50 HR C, which has certain cutting ability, but is not as aggressive to sandblasting equipment as the higher hardness 60 HR C plus steel sand, which is usually only used in air sandblasting equipment because Higher rates of wear on machine components. This is a balance that needs to be evaluated based on project requirements.
In conclusion
The proper size of steel shot or blasting media can have a significant impact on the outcome of your project. By understanding the application requirements and keeping equipment considerations in mind, you can ensure the best results. Always remember that the end goal is to achieve effective cleaning, surface profiling or blasting without causing unnecessary damage to the part surface or equipment.
