3.

TYPES OF SHOT BLASTING MACHINES

3.1 Shot Blasting machines containing centrifugal wheel

3.1.1 According to type of conveyor

A. Shot Blasting machine with endless horizontal conveyor (tumble blast)

In this type of machine the component are placed on continuously moving horizontal conveyor.
The belt is located at the point near the blast cabinet. The belt is made of efficient rubber material.

B. Shot blasting machine with overhead belt conveyor

This type of machine contains belt at the top head of the machine which convey the products on it. The
belt is continuously moving and carry the components on it.

3.1.2 Shot blasting machines with rotating table

This machine contains the rotating table inside the blast cabinet. This table is continuously rotating in
the cabinet. The product is placed on this table and the shots are blast on the component. Because of
continuous rotation the shots cover all the surface area of the component. This machine allows the small
components on it

3.1.3 Shot blasting machines for shot peening

This shot peening machine is used for blasting the shots in internal spaces between the gear teeth, spiral
springs. In short, shot peening is used for finishing of intricate surfaces of the components.
.

Page 6
3.2 Pressure Blasting Machines other than Wheel blasting

Blast cabinets are ideal when a variety of small parts is to be treated. The
cabins can be equipped with turntables, rotary baskets, blast nozzles, pressure
blasting systems, oscillators and other special auxiliary equipment, making
them very versatile. The full-width front-opening door provides clear access to
the complete blast chamber, and the special design prevents blast media
spillage when opened.
Pressure and injector blasting cabins are used for:
1. cleaning
2. de burring
3. surface finishing
4. decorative blasting

The range of shot blast media that can be used covers all non-hygroscopic
media from very abrasive materials (e.g. aluminium oxide or silicon carbide)
to plastic media and corn cob.

Page 7
3.3 Rotary Indexing Satellite Table Machines

Rotary indexing table machine, gentle finishing of different kinds of

components with no part-on-part contact is possible. The entire
spectrum of blasting applications ranges from delicate de-burring to
shot blasting. The installation is particularly interesting for
applications in which the entire surface of the components need not
be blasted, but only specific sections. It is a modular system and it
can be equipped with 6, 8, 10 or 12 satellites, operating completely
automatically. The machines can be equipped with either injection or pressure blasting systems.

3.4 Injection Blasting

3.4.1 Continuous Rubber Conveyor Belt Machines (injection

blasting)

The core component is a highly wear-resistant, perforated and

fabric reinforced transport belt, made from rubber. In a continuous
process, the components are treated by a total of 24 injection nozzles
all together, which are fixed on an adjustable support frame. Due to
the vertical lifting movement of the frame and the free adjustment of
the nozzles, all-round blasting of parts with complex geometric shapes is possible. All commercial blast
media can be used.

Page 8
 3.4.2 Loop Belt Machines (injection blasting)

This type of continuous flow shot blasting machine is ideally suited for
treating small, high volume bulk components. The special design of the
V-shaped loop belt creates a screw-like movement of the parts through
the machine, which ensures homogenous treatment of all parts.
This shot blasting machines have been designed for applications where
the required blast media does not permit the use of turbines. These
machines are suited for applications such as cleaning iron or steel
castings, roughening aluminium springs or shot-peening of thermoset
products.

3.5 Turn Table shot blasting machines

Burs from grinding the surfaces of synchronous rings can

efficiently and completely be removed using this shot blasting
machines. The swing table with two satellites accepts
interchangeable holders for differently sized rings. The swing
table keeps the time required for parts handling to a minimum.
Automated handling can be integrated with this system.

Page 9
3.6 Tube Blasting Machines

Tube and Bar Blasting Machines

These specialized blast machines allow comprehensive and

uniform shot blast treatment of tubes and round bars in a
continuous process. Ideal for integration into an existing
production facility.

3.7 Plate Cleaning Machine

Page 10
3.8 100% Automated Blasting

3.8.1 Robot Shot Blasting

The operating scope of this high performance blasting system "Roboblaster"
with one arm robot comprises de-burring, surface finishing, as well as shot
peening of impact sensitive components of various dimensions. Every user
of shot blasting technology that is using or planning a certain degree of
automation in his company, should think about having a system like this with
robo handling. The Roboblaster system comprises definition of the size, the
performance and the technical parameters of the robot to be used, as well as
determination of the design of transport systems. The Roboblaster is tailored
to suit the needs to the needs of the customer.

Page 11
 The Roboblaster concept has been implemented a number of ways.
One example is the de-burring and surface-finishing of cylinder heads
made of aluminium die castings for a car manufacturer. The robot
places its docking plate on the shot-blasting machine aperture and
seals it. This ensures shorter cycle times and less wear, without any
mechanical locking mechanisms.
The mini version of the Roboblaster for very small aircraft
components.
The main body of the shot blasting system is adapted to the
component size and geometry, passage aperture, number of shot-
blasting wheels or compressed air capacity. The weight capacity of
the robot and the type and sizing of the patented grippers are
dependent on the component weight.

The Roboblaster was designed for automatic processing of cylinder

heads for five- cylinder as well as four-cylinder engine blocks. This
dual usability is possible due to the special design of the robot
gripper.

Design characteristics for automated shot blasting

 horizontal oscillating pressure blast gun
 highly wear-resistant boron carbide blast nozzle
 shot blasting procedure is controlled by the component recognition device
 front access lift door with safety switch
 parts transport by means of a flat, wear-resistant special rubber belt with infinitely adjustable
drive speed
 bucket elevator with wear-resistant buckets, bolted onto a special bucket elevator belt
(optional)
 separate shot blasting media recirculation equipment with air flow separation, vibration sieve
device, shot blasting media supply hopper, and pressure blasting chamber (optional)

Page 12
4. Effectiveness of the shot blasting processes
The analysis of effectiveness of the cleaning treatment reveals that shots hitting the targeted object play
the double role: they clean it both by hitting and abrasive action. The difference in hypothetical impacts
produced by the stream of shots hitting the castings surface results from the differences in the speed v of
shots or grain and the incidence angle _ (Fig. 1). It is recommended that the rotors should be used that
should blast the cleaning agent
at different angles. The extent of surface impacts and their quantitative description is provided by the
the-ory of J.G.

Figure 4: Schematic diagram of abrasive grain impacting on the surface to be cleaned

Bitter, dealing with erosion wear and based on mechanics of

elasticity and plasticity of solids. Erosion wear involves both
abrasive action associated with the impacts produced when
shots hit the surface at small angles (micro-machining) and
crushing and chipping caused by shots bombarding the
surface at large angles. For machining wear experienced
when abrasive grains scratch the surface forming ’micro-
chips, referred to as ’small angle impacts. For machining
wear experienced when abrasive grains machine-cut the
surface tearing off ’microchips’.
Fig. Component functions of the erosion treatment for soft materials, according to Bitter

Page 13
 Cleaning effects are achieved both through cutting and
chipping of contaminants from the surface by the impacting
grains. The efficiency of shot peening treatment of casting
products is evaluated basing on the mass loss in relation to
the process parameters and parameters of the treated
material and of the cleaning grain. The comparison is also
made of the surface conditions (surface roughness). As
regards shot peening, it is required that the stream of shots
should be well concentrated so that the process should be
restricted to local impacts applied normal to the surface of
the treated products, prompting the change of surface
conditions and the conditions of the sub-surface layers.
The stream of shots ejected by jet rotors forms a scattered
Fig. Component functions of the erosion
treatment for hard Materials
beam according to Bitter and, in consequence, hits the surface under different angles. That is the
consequence of the nature of the stream of shots, which is dispersed because individual shots leave the
rotor blades at different times and their velocities, mass and shapes may differ, too. The stream of grain
is dispersed both in sandblasting and shot peening processes, both are used to meet specific surface
condition requirements. Dynamic surface treatment of metal products causes the surface condition to
change [1,2,8,9]. Compressive stresses are generated to compensate for stresses induced by
manufacturing processes. Internal compressive stresses will appear because the deformed layer tends to
increase its volume and this process must be counteracted by elastic, deeper-situated layers of metal.
The mechanism generating the compressive stresses in the surface layer is associated with the properties
of treated materials. In the case of hard materials (HV>600), these stresses are generated by forces
acting normal to the treated surface. The maximal tangent stresses _max due to normal stresses are
situated underneath the surface, at the depth of z = 0:47 _ a (Fig. 4a). In the case of plastic (low-
hardness) materials, such as aluminium alloys (HV 6300), considerable plastic strains are generated near
the surface. The increase of the size of the shot-peened layer A is counteracted by the layer B, which in
consequence produces the internal stress distribution (Fig 4b). The maximal value of compressive stress

Page 14