Aviation Applications for Plastic Blast Media

The history of plastic abrasives is tightly bound to the aviation industry, having been developed in the 80s to meet the industries specific needs.

Prior to the introduction of plastic abrasives the only choice for stripping aircraft without damaging the underlying materials was to use chemical strippers. These were generally hazardous to use, difficult to dispose of after use, and relatively slow.

Plastic abrasives are softer than many of the materials from which aircraft are made, and can remove coatings with a very high remove rate, but at a low pressure - typically 20 to 40 psi. As a result delicate materials such as thin skinned aluminium and various composites including fibreglass can be stripped with no damage to the surface. Due to the particular requirement for zero damage to the light and delicate materials Acrylic blast media is the most commonly used in the industry.

Plastic media is also used for removing dirt from aircraft components prior to inspection, allowing underlying problems with the components to be exposed without adding additional damage to the part.

Research on behalf of the US Airforce demonstrated a saving of $915,000 per annum when using plastic media compared to chemical stripping. For more information click here.