How Wet Blasting Works:

How wet blasting, also known as slurry blasting, wet etching, liquid abrasive blasting, and wet honing works: You’ve mixed water with abrasive before. Think of pumice hand soap. The action is scrubbing. It works better than washing with just soap. Think parts washers.

Wet Technologies mixes abrasives and non abrasive medias such as glass and ceramic beads, and even plastics, with water. This is done with our own special, high volume, low maintenance pump in a closed loop stainless steel cabinet. The slurry is then discharged at a controlled and regulated velocity by nozzle(s) or other means at the part surface.

Unlike dry blasting or sand blasting, Wet Technologies wet blasting uses high volume water in the slurry to cushion the media. This mostly eliminates media imbedded into the surface.

ROUND MEDIA such as glass bead, ceramic, and metal shot. These slurries are used to clean, smooth, brighten, peen, and descale surfaces. Fine glass and ceramic slurries can also deburr some parts. Ceramic and metal shot slurries have longer life. When the slurry is heated, parts can be cleaned of light oils and scale, while leaving a bright or matt cosmetic finish. Applications range from aircraft component “N scale” wet peen, or wet peening, to aviation engine, landing gear, and automotive engine rebuilding.

ANGULAR GRIT MEDIA such as aluminum oxide, crushed glass, and steel grit. These slurries are used for aggressiveness. New machined components in the aircraft, automotive, marine, and semiconductor segments can be deburred. Coarse grit sizes are useful in engine rebuilding. Wet blasting with a coarse grit can remove heavy scale or descale, remove rust or derust, and at the same time remove light soiled oils or degrease parts.

FINE ANGULAR ALUMINUM OXIDE slurry can deep clean into the pores of surfaces. In the aircraft industry, Wet Technologies applications include deep cleaning new and used jet engine components to expose cracks, thereby making then accesable for liquid penetrate inspection or LPI. When composites are subject to wet blasting, wet etching leaves an even, clean, and abraded finish with fewer high peaks and low valleys than conventional dry blasting. The result is less resin is required to fill the voids, leading to remarkably strong bonding strength.

PLASTIC ANGULAR MEDIA slurry is used for removing flash or deflashing plastic parts, and paint stripping. The advantage: Wet Technologies systems can blast, closed loop rinse, and dry parts in one contained cabinet. Our closed loop rinsing and drying pass milipore testing, eliminating the need for several conventional machines.

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from Wet Technologies' website.