glass bead peening process

Introduction to glass bead peening

Also known as bead blasting, glass bead peening produces a clean, bright, satin finish, without dimensional change or contamination of the parts. Available in a wide range of sizes, glass beads are primarily used in blasting cabinets, as seen below, for honing, polishing, peening, blending, finishing, removing light burrs and cleaning most light foreign matter. For delicate thin-walled parts and thin welds, peening with glass bead abrasive material provides the right balance of stress relief without over-stressing and causing damage.

Types of glass bead media

Glass beads are manufactured from lead-free, soda lime-type glass, containing no free silica that is made into preformed ball shapes. Glass beads produce a much smoother and brighter finish than angular abrasives. Glass beads can be recycled approximately 30 times. Chemically inert and environmentally friendly, glass beads are an acceptable method of metal cleaning or surface finishing when properly controlled.

Sizes range from very small to large more aggressive media. The size used depends upon the job requirements and the machine used.

Many glass bead applications

The versatility and ease of use in glass bead peening, along with its safety and enviromental factors, has allowed it to grow into one of the most widely use processes in manufacturing today. Below you can read a brief summary on its most common uses.

glass bead peening

Shot peening with glass beads is a low cost form of creating a uniform surface layer of compressed stress in alloy substances. Glass bead peening acts to combat stress cracks and corrosion which result in increasing the life of metal parts.

parts deburring

Glass Bead blasting removes burrs, feathered edges, and flashing from parts in a precision operation. Corners and edges must be deburred with precision to assemble and operate properly. Glass bead blasting guarantees that no base metal from the surface is removed. Delicate and finished areas may be easily masked for protection.

cleaning & surface prep.

Glass beads remove foreign substances from the surface without a dimensional change to the surface. For example removing paint, light corrosion, degreasing, and almost any other surface contaminants. Glass beads may also be used to prepare surfaces for gasket sealing, paint adhesion, or lubrication retension.

finishing & texturizing

Glass bead blasting to create a specific finish can be used on a wide range of materials including metal, glass, plastic and rubber. The smaller the glass spheres, the smoother the surface; larger spheres produce a more textured finish. To protect certain areas or in detail etching purposes, areas can be easily masked with tape.

Bead blasting and glass bead peening have proven to be a reliable and economical solution for many applications today. For more information on glass bead peening, feel free to contact us at any time. For details on our specific capabilities, visit the glass bead peening section.