Robotic Sandblasting and Smart Recycling Systems

Robots are now entering every aspect of our lives, and the adoption of surface treatment technologies in blasting and painting processes represents one of the new developments in the field. Particularly in final blasting, one of the most challenging surface treatment processes, the use of robotic systems has demonstrated improvements in processing speed and surface quality. For robotic blasting systems to remain cost-optimal in terms of investment, the products to be blasted must meet certain standards and be of similar types. When compared with manual blasting applications, this approach has many different characteristics. These characteristics include, first and foremost, the deployment of robots and crane systems in place of an operator, and as another change, the variability in the systematics and content of machinery within the machine room. Based on these changes, the most critical selection criterion in robotic blasting facilities is choosing the robot that will manage the spray according to the spray angle and distance required on the blasting surface, compensating for the variability of the blasting nozzle. Once the robot is properly selected, the design of the blasting machine that will feed the robot must be executed with a recycling system strategy that minimizes abrasive loss, since blasting will occur continuously without interruption.

Looking at these changes in greater detail, the continuous delivery of abrasive during the blasting process conducted by the blasting machine is an important matter.

If abrasive does not arrive continuously or arrives intermittently, certain points on the surface will be missed during blasting, creating quality control problems or causing permanent quality issues. The average sizes of blasting tanks are standard 200 lt and 300 lt, and their depletion timeframes vary across this sector in robotic blasting. The nozzle selection of the blasting machine is directly proportional to the width and thickness of the surface to be blasted. If the part to be blasted is a piece such as vehicle-mounted equipment or a wagon, the nozzle sizes are typically around 14 mm or 16 mm in diameter. A nozzle of this diameter depletes a 200 lt or 300 lt tank in approximately 30 minutes on average. This means that the 30-minute period will include abrasive loading time, so even though the process is short-duration, it will stop, certain points on the surface will not be blasted, and touch-up work will be required in those areas. To prevent these problems, the "Twin Blasting" tanks manufactured by Alfatechnic Makina enable continuous blasting of the robot with closed-loop abrasive feeding without interruption. The tank characteristics create two different pressure zones in a single body and operate on the same automation plane as the stock silo, enabling automatic self-feeding. Of course, the stock silo must also be fed by an intelligent recycling system. Three different recycling systems exist in the literature. The first is a pneumatic recycling system, the second is a mechanical conveyor recycling system, and the third is a mechanical sweeper recycling system. All three systems have important details. The most important criterion to consider when selecting the system is determining the recycling system based on the region and workload. This selection should be made by specialists in the field; otherwise, unforeseen time losses will create bottlenecks in overall manufacturing and cause major difficulties. It must be remembered that blasting systems are generally heavy-industry applications. Tolga Zent Sales Coordinator Alfatechnic Makina San. ve Dış Tic. Ltd. Şti.