Cleaning and strengthening are two different processes. Cleaning mainly relies on visual inspection to determine whether the surface is clean. There are internationally unified calibration samples and standards, and roughness meters can also be used for measurement, but the overall quantification level is low. Reinforcement aims for high controllability, repeatability, and dataization, achieving specified Almen strength, saturation, and 100% -200% coverage to obtain the required compressive stress and pellet specifications as specified by the engineer.
Many people have misunderstandings about reinforcement, believing that "cleaning equipment can be used for reinforcement", mainly due to insufficient reinforcement process information, lack of specialized equipment, habitual use of existing cleaning equipment, and misleading information from some manufacturers. With the development of industry, countries such as China and India have gradually standardized their understanding of strengthening. Internationally renowned enterprises have introduced mature processes into their local areas, and exporting European and American products must also follow standardized strengthening procedures.
There are two ways of strengthening: compressed air shot peening, which is suitable for local precision strengthening and stainless steel shot, ceramic beads, glass beads and other shot materials, and can be highly automated with the help of a robotic arm; Centrifugal shot blasting strengthening is suitable for high-capacity and large-scale production, such as strengthening automotive leaf springs and circular springs.
The core evaluation criteria for enhancing equipment are repeatability and result stability. Key process parameters include nozzle/projectile size, power, spray speed, angle, position, etc. Taking leaf spring/round spring reinforcement as an example, the position of the throwing head needs to be optimized through multiple experiments to determine the optimal angle, speed, and pellet flow rate, ensuring that the coverage meets the standard.
In terms of equipment maintenance, high wear-resistant materials should be selected, direct motor drive should be used, disassembly and assembly structure should be simplified, nozzle/throwing head positions should be arranged reasonably, and mature control systems should be equipped to improve reliability and reduce downtime and maintenance costs.
The high-quality reinforcement equipment adopts a touch screen interface, combined with PLC or CNC control system, to achieve stable program control, ensuring consistent reinforcement effect and reliable quality.