Imagine the ability to clean, shot peen, and paint I-beams for commercial construction, without having to move the heavy and bulky piece manually. The most well-equipped preservation line would be much less useful without adequate material handling systems.

That’s why Rosler Metal Finishing builds material handling systems into preservation lines to accommodate a wide range of structural steel components before and after the surface finishing process.

This installment of the Structural Steel FAQ Series will answer What types of material handling systems are available for shot blasting and painting structural steel components?

The most common methods of handling systems are roller conveyors and overhead rails. More specialized options also exist.

Roller Conveyors

Exclusively used for transporting steel plates, beams, and very heavy bar stock, roller conveyors move components through shot blast machines and preservation lines. They are also the preferred system for handling wide, extra heavy weldments with work piece heights of up to 5 feet.

Overhead Rails

For large, bulky weldments with heights of more than 5 feet, hanger shot blast machines with an overhead rail transport system are utilized.

A variety of rail systems are available. Selection is often based on the process requirements and component size. Specific types and characteristics include:

• Simple Chain Transport – All hangers always run at the same speed.
• Power & Free Systems – Individual hangers can be disengaged from the moving chain.
• Electric Trolleys – Movement and speed of the individual trolleys can be controlled separately. This type can accommodate very heavy payloads up to several tons.

Specialized Options

Besides roller conveyors and overhead rails, there are numerous material handling systems for steel plates, all kinds of beams and profiles, and round bars and pipes.

Transportation methods and available accommodations include:

• Cross Transport – These units are for moving beams, round bars, etc. from a staging area onto a roller conveyor and vice versa.
• Special Slat Conveyors – Used specifically in the paint cabin, these conveyors minimize the contact area between work pieces and transport system.
• Magnetic Lifting Devices – Used for steel plates, beams, pipes, and complete weldments, these devices lift ferrous materials for vertical loading.
• Bundling Stations – Small tubes and round bars are grouped for transport and/or storage using this type of unit.
• Stenciling or Marking Systems – These systems allow for the marking of finished, shot blasted and coated work pieces.

Preservation lines are often combinations of common and more specialized units. For example, saw stations, including drill presses and shot blast machines, are frequently linked with cross transport units and roller conveyors for fully automatic cutting, drilling, and blast cleaning.

At Rosler, we partner with the high precision sawing technologies and high-performance machining lines Behringer and Vernet Behringer to create complete turn-key lines through Partners4Steel. These optimized production flows offer excellence in structural steel finishing, cutting, and drilling while avoiding common interface problems that occur with other vendors.

The Rosler Way

Whatever work piece you need to facilitate and finish, Rosler Metal Finishing can learn about your challenges to develop and deliver a solution for structural steel finishing. Contact us today to discuss your unique challenges.

---

The complete Structural Steel Series includes:

• Part 1 – Why Surface Preparation is Necessary.
• Part 2 – Methods of Surface Preparation.
• Part 3 – Evaluating Rust and Mill Scale Pre- and Post-Blast.
• Part 4 – Evaluating the Presence of Dust.
• Part 5 – Assessing Surface Profile.
• Part 6 – Blast Media’s Influence on Surface Profile.
• Part 7 – Comparing Commonly Used Blast Machines.
• Part 8 – Are All Turbines Created Equal?
• Part 9 – Removing Residual Blast Media and Dust.
• Part 10 – Blast Rooms for Touch-Ups.
• Part 11 – Preservation Lines.
• Part 12 – Material Handling Options.

Sign up for enews alerts to be notified of all Rosler blog posts!