Surface Treatment & Prep

Large-Scale Abrasive Blasting & Passivation

In heavy duty environments, an industrial paint or multi-part epoxy coating is only as durable as the steel surface beneath it. Any lingering weld slag, mill scale, rust, or embedded iron can trigger catastrophic, rapid corrosion and total coating failure under harsh marine or chemical exposure.

At Openex, our enormous facilities allow us to process monumental assemblies through dedicated **steel grit blasting recovery vaults** and rigorous **chemical pickling and passivation processes**. By establishing a pristine surface profile and restoring the protective oxide layers in stainless alloys, we ensure complete metallurgical readiness for coating and real-world deployment.

Surface Preparation Techniques

Abrasive Grit & Shot Blasting

For structural carbon steel assemblies (like dump bodies or marine hulls), we operate immense indoor grit blasting vaults. Our equipment shoots aggressive angular steel grit to completely strip away weld impurities and carve out an exact microscopic surface profile for maximum paint adhesion.

• › Up to SSPC-SP 10 / NACE No. 2 (Near-White Metal)
• › Exacting MIL profile verification (Surface Roughness)
• › Clean, indoor humidity-controlled blasting vaults

Pickling & Passivation (Stainless & Duplex)

When cutting or heavily machining austenitic and duplex stainless steels, free iron gets embedded into the material, destroying its natural rust resistance. Our certified chemical passivizing process forcefully strips free iron and rebuilds the metal’s pure chromium-oxide protective film.

• › Compliant with ASTM A380 & ASTM A967 specs.
• › Crucial for Food Processing & Offshore Equipment.
• › Immersion tank & localized spray capabilities.

Mechanical Polishing & Weld Blending

Certain high-fatigue or high-vacuum components (such as UHV vacuum chambers) demand flush, radiused corners to prevent stress risers or trapped gasses. We provide heavy-duty mechanical surface grinding, weld-seam blending, and mirror polishing directly off the welding floor.

• › Exacting Micro-inch (Ra) finish targets
• › Cosmetic and hygienic surface uniformity
• › Prevention of micro-fissure stress fractures

Blasting & Prep Room Limits

Just like our colossal CNC and Plate Rolling equipment, our environmental surface prep enclosures are sized to swallow some of the biggest steel weldments in the industry.