Guyson Corporation has manufactured and installed an expanded-capacity abrasive slurry blasting system with an indexing table, rotary spindles and programmable linear nozzle motion for surface preparation work in manufacturing of turbomachinery components and precision products.
The Vaqua 72 x 72 automated rotary wet-blast machine processes parts up to 30 inches in height and 12 inches in diameter. The process enclosure, fabricated entirely of polished 304 stainless steel, is divided into two chambers to isolate the slurry-blast operation from a rinsing zone and the front load-unload station. The precision 120-degree cam indexer of the 48-inch diameter table is sufficiently accurate to allow automated loading by a robot or pick-and-place device. At each index, the partition doors are made watertight by inflatable seals.
Inside the wet-blasting chamber, six Vaqua slurry-blast guns are arranged on a mast attached to a roof-mounted linear actuator. Multi-adjustable brackets enable the wet blasting guns to be rigidly positioned at the correct angles and offsets for coverage of target surfaces.
The component, fixtured securely on a shielded ball bearing spindle, is rotated at controlled and adjustable speed, as the blast guns move up or down in the vertical axis, according to the stroke distance, traversing speed, location and stroke count that is programmed in the process recipe for the individual part.
In the rinsing circuit, the automated blasting system is equipped with mini-cyclones mounted on the roof of the process enclosure to remove abrasive particles from the pumped slurry, providing rinse water to flush residual media from the finished components before they are returned to the load/unload station.
Prospective users of automated wet-blast equipment are invited to submit sample components for testing and application engineering evaluation in the fully equipped laboratory at Guyson’s factory in northeastern New York State.
