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1. The cause of Rusting
A whole lot of interdependence comes into play in having a machine work properly.
When parts are worn out or rusty the entire process would be compromised.
To have essential parts of various components working correctly, one must make sure that they are clean and free of rust.
It is common knowledge that metals containing iron or steel become susceptible to corrosion when exposed to air, bases, salt, oil, water, and oxygen.
The process of oxidation on iron or steel forms rust.
This has a lot of undesirable effects on metals and the functional components of machines.
When corrupted, metal parts that have been built to rotate become stuck.
It causes the weakening of parts, slowly eating away even the most significant chunks of iron.
Faced with this challenge, manufacturers have sought out different ways of ensuring manufactured parts last longer while performing better.
2. Rust removal with mass finishing
Vibratory finishing processes are used mainly in manufacturing industries.
These processes are beneficial when it comes to rust removal.
It improves the quality of parts, making them safer to handle.
It is a cost-effective mass-finishing process that allows for large quantities of parts to be refined simultaneously.
There are various types of mass finishing processes, including tumble or barrel finishing and vibratory finishing.
However, for the purpose of this article, we’re going to consider rust removal using vibratory tumbler mass removal machines.
This process consists of an operation in which compounds and specially shaped pellets of media are placed into a vibratory rust removal equipment, and the workpieces to be cleaned.
As the process begins, the machine and all its contents vibrate.
The vibratory action inside the compartment causes the media to rub against the workpieces leading to a smoother finish, which is unattainable by hand.
3. Recommended Mass Finishing Machine for Rust Removal
There are two most commonly used mass finishing machines when it comes to rust removal from metal parts.
They include a barrel tumbling rust removal machine and a vibratory tumbling finishing machine.
The significant difference between both lies in how they create the friction required for eliminating imperfections from metal parts.
3.1 Barrel tumbling Mass Finishing Machine
The action on this machine is like rocks tumbling down a steep hill.
The machine consists of a barrel in which parts to be mass finished are placed along with suitable media and complimenting compounds.
Rotating the barrel causes a tumbling action on the workpiece.
As the parts tumble down, they rub against themselves and the media, producing friction, which leads to abrasion.
This action causes the metal parts in the tank to deburr, clean, or polish.
3.2 Vibratory Mass Finishing Equipment
This machine consists of a vibratory tube or bowl.
Clean metal parts in the tube, and start the process.
The machine produces a vibratory action transmitted to the parts, causing them to turn and grind against each other.
This grinding action is responsible for the deburring or cleaning of the metal parts inside the bowl.
3.3 Comparing and Contrasting the Two-Mass Finishing Processes
Vibratory mass finishing has remained the most popular option for mass finishing applications the world over. Reasons include:
- The process is a lot more compatible with automation
- Saves time
- Reduce labor cost
- Suitable for finishing more delicate parts
- Causes minimal surface wear, leading to durability and increased lifespan of parts
Regardless of being the most widely accepted, vibratory finishing equipment and finishing systems, on the other hand, are a lot more complicated when compared to barrel tumbling finishing systems.
These complexities make them expensive to purchase, own as well as operate.
The barrel systems could have the following disadvantages:
- Longer finishing cycle
- More aggressive, leading to increased surface abrasion.
4. Case study:
Iron material easy to rust if not protected by an external coating layer.
Below we share two iron parts rust removal cases with ceramic tumbling media in the vibratory finishing machine.
4.1 Case 1 Iron shovel parts：
The general comparison of iron shovel before and after rust removal
Comparison of iron shovel before and after re-rusting in details
Before rust removal, the surface of the part is dirt and with rust spots.
After 2 hours of tumbling in the vibratory deburring machine, the surface is clean.
Then it exposed the natural iron color on the surface.
Ceramic cylinder media is lodged in the shovel hole
However, we still need to take into account the ceramic media size and shape.
The ceramic media size (width) should have 60-70% of the hole’s diameter.
So we can get the most use of the media before it has lodging issue.
Compared with cylinder shape ceramic media, angle cut triangle cut faster for the same parts.
After deburring and rust removal, the parts need to soak into the rust inhibitor to prevent corrosion.
This is an essential procedure before painting.
4.2 Case 2 Iron hollow disc：
Comparison of iron disc parts in general
When we get a close look at the part before finishing, we can see the rust is heavy.
Also, there is a visible burr on the edge of the hole.
Comparison of iron disc parts before and after vibratory finishing in details
So the de-rusting process takes 3 hours with fast cutting ceramic media.
For iron material, we have an HM-A cutting compound which facilitates the cutting process.
As a result, rust can be removed in a shorter time.
They proposed a bigger size of ceramic media.
Reason 1 It’s faster to cut using big size media.
Reason 2 is the iron disc has many small holes.
The big size media can use quite a long time before it starts to lodge in.
5. Conclusion
Many considerations come into play when considering which mass finishing method to use.
Some factors to consider are the weight and geometry of parts, the time factor or production schedule, and the cost and availability of resources.
Last, we show two examples of case studies for rust removal out of iron parts surface.
