Belzona Inc., a provider of industrial coatings and industrial repair composites, has developed a new alternative approach for surface preparation in situations when grit blasting is otherwise impossible. Known as bristle blasting, the method both removes corrosion and generates an anchor profile (also known as an anchor pattern) by using a specially designed rotary bristle tool.

Although most major industrial coatings manufacturers prefer that a substrate undergoes abrasive grit blasting prior to coating, which yields ideal results for product-to-surface adhesion, it is not always feasible. Lack of access, time or money can preclude optimum surface preparation. Some coating applications are also too small to warrant blasting. Until recently, these scenarios were often compromised with grinding techniques that caused low production rates and high worker fatigue while producing at best a lackluster anchor profile.

Belzona recently conducted full-scale testing of the new method and found that bristle blasting can meet SSPC SP-11 on most substrates. Production rates, while not fast enough to accommodate large coating and industrial composite applications, are acceptable and vastly superior to grinding. Overall, bristle blasting has been shown to offer an appealing alternative in situations where conventional open blasting is not possible.

For more information, visit www.belzona.com.