Three Key Trends in Abrasives market of India

Abhrasnata Das

The concept of abrasives is as old as civilization itself. According to multiple historians, the rubbing of two stones together can be considered an abrasives use in its crudest form. However, the earliest recorded use of abrasives can be found in 13th-century Chinese documents. From then till now, abrasive has been a major part of human civilization. Right from the sharpening of the stones and metals, to the industrial revolution and in the technology-dominated 21st century, abrasives occupy a crucial spot.

In India, the abrasives industry is expected to record healthy growth in the coming years. According to reports, the nation-building initiatives and schemes like — Make in India, smart cities mission, housing for all, etc, are expected to enhance investment in the construction industry which will give a positive boost to the abrasive market of India. Moreover, rising demand from the cutting tool segment, abrasive jet machining, and pencil blasting; will create a positive impact on the abrasive industry.

As the demand grows for abrasive products, the industry is also expected to witness new trends that offer enhanced results along while catering to the need of the workplace. In this article, we have listed the top three trends that are expected to influence the market in the coming days.

Rising use of Drones and robots

Robots of today, are transforming the way of protecting any asset or infrastructure from corrosion. Moreover, with the rising implementation of bots and drones in the inspection and maintenance segment, the concept of on-site working has evolved. Viewing from a broader perspective, robots have not only raised operation efficiency but also turned work sites into safer places.

With the rise of digitization, automation, and machine learning, affordable robotic solution are now taking a significant spot in industries more than ever before. In the abrasive domain, robots are taking the place of humans. The key operations like — Grinding, Cleaning, and Deburring, are now being done by robots.

Drones, on the other hand, have proven their efficiency in critical spaces like the shipping industry. Being small and agile drones can enter and explore the space that humans can't reach. This trail of drones is not utilized to conduct cleaning and deburring.

BlastOne International, a sandblasting manufacturer, is now manufacturing sandblasting robots, that operate with minimum human intervention. The company marketing manager of the company states, “Using robotics in this industry gets the blaster out of the dust, and doing the work safely from a distance. You use a robot to hold multiple hoses, you can increase the size of the blast hose, and get more work done faster, safer and cleaner.”

Blasting technologies to take center stage

The new and enhanced blasting technologies are changing the paradigm of the blasting industry. Today, new innovations like air blasting are being used in multiple operations. The easy-to-use blasting technology doesn't require any technical knowledge for its effective operations.

For example, a blasting technology named Alpha 1 is a kind of product that require any prior programming work. Alpha 1 comes with an inbuilt bot that creates a blasting plan for a project with the help of 3D cameras.

The new CO2 cleaning and blasting solutions have now gained traction in the industrial domain owing to their cleaning capabilities of oil residue, thin films, dust, debris, and more.

Next to the CO2 blasting, dry blasting technology will be a major disruption; wherein the dry ice is blasted onto the part, can supercool an area, causing the contaminants to become hard and break off of the surface. Although efficient the repetitive procedure of the dry blasting procedure often makes it boring and hard thereby requiring constant human intervention.

However, with the arrival of robot automation, dry blasting technology can come to the limelight and evolve into an effective and cost-effective procedure.

Use of Wet Grit Technologies

Although a well-set industrial process, dry gritting isn't an environment-friendly procedure. Most often the process leads to the generation of a considerable amount of dust, thereby polluting the environment around the job site. With the generation of a significant amount of dust particles, the chance of massive health concerns remains a point the concern for the workforce.

Wet gritting has evolved as a sustainable alternative to the dry gritting procedure. A normal sandblasting nozzle is combined with a spray of water in the wet grit technique.

A second process involves a very little amount of grit being added to a stream of pressurized water. Extremely high-pressure water jets are frequently employed in cutting and cleaning operations to remove surface coatings. A lance is typically used to regulate a water jet that abrades the surface.

In Conclusion

Abrasives hold a unique spot in industrial operations. For a growing country like India, the development in terms of technology adoption, the inclusion of robotics, and the adoption of Nobel technologies will create help reduce the turnaround time while optimizing the quality of work.

As the nation progresses in its journey of evolving as a global manufacturing hub, leveling up operational efficiency requires undivided attention. With the inclusion of cutting-edge technologies, India will be able to attain and in some terms exceed global standards.