The foundry is the sector where surface cleaning is hardest, for four reasons that usually show up together.
Problem 1: complicated shapes that need complete cleaning
A casting has ribs, channels, bores and shadowed areas. The abrasive jet reaches exposed surfaces easily and the rest with difficulty.
The requirement is 100% cleaning, not 90%. Sand left in a channel ends up, later, in a hydraulic circuit.
The solution lies in how the part moves in front of the wheel: tumbling, rotation on a hanger, or travel on a hook, depending on the geometry.
Problem 2: abrasive trapped in holes and corners
This is the reverse of the first problem. You have cleaned the part, but now the abrasive is inside it.
Abrasive that leaves with the part is lost cost and, worse, contamination at the following operations.
It is solved through the discharge position, through blow-off at the exit, and by choosing an abrasive size that does not lodge in your geometry.
Problem 3: parts that do not fit
Large or irregularly shaped castings do not go into an ordinary tumble machine.
Here you move to monorail hook installations, to blast rooms, or to purpose-built solutions. The part size decides the type of installation, not the other way round.
Problem 4: the moulds
Casting moulds are cleaned periodically of deposits, without attacking the working surface. It is a completely different application from cleaning parts, and it calls for a different medium and different settings.
Cost, in a foundry
The foundry is also the sector with the highest abrasive consumption, because the parts arrive the most contaminated.
Which makes the correct mix, good separation and leak checking matter even more. At foundry volumes, one percent of extra consumption is a visible sum at the end of the year.
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