Cryogenic wet-ice blasting-Process conditions and possibilities

In the present article frozen and deeply chilled water-ice particles, with a temperature of around -100 degrees C, act as a blasting abrasive. For accelerating cryogenic ice particles the process of injector blasting is used. The advantage of this abrasive at these low temperatures lies in the complete absence of residues after processing. Abrasive water-ice particles turn back to water by melting. Possible applications for this innovative process are especially complex components that can be easily deburred and cleaned. The production process of deep frozen ice particles will be described and first practical deburring test results will be shown. (C) 2013 CIRP.