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Industries

Power Generation

High-integrity abrasives for turbine blade peening, boiler tube cleaning, and generator component preparation across thermal, nuclear, hydro, and wind power plants — engineered for fatigue and stress-corrosion resistance.

Thermal · Nuclear · Hydro · WindSa 2.5 StandardSCC Resistance

Industry Overview

Reliability for thermal, nuclear & hydro power

Power generation assets run continuously under high temperature, pressure, and cyclic load. Across thermal, nuclear, and hydro plants, surface integrity determines whether rotating and pressure-containing components reach their design life — making peening and surface preparation a core reliability discipline.

Turbine blades are particularly vulnerable to fatigue and stress-corrosion cracking; controlled shot peening introduces compressive residual stress that suppresses crack initiation in wet-steam and high-cycle environments. Boiler tubes and penstocks require clean, profiled surfaces for coatings that resist oxidation, erosion, and cavitation. Macloid Metalix supplies abrasives with certified hardness, chemistry, and sieve analysis on every batch.

Plant Types

Thermal · Hydro · Wind

Focus

Fatigue & SCC

Cleanliness

Sa 2.5

Documentation

Every Batch

Recommended Products

Abrasives selected for power generation

Steel Grit

Grade rangeG18 – G40
StandardSAE J1993
Best forBoiler tube cleaning, tower prep, penstock and hydro component profiling
View specifications →

Glass Beads

Grade rangeVarious
StandardMIL-G-9954
Best forGentle peening and finishing of precision turbine and generator components
View specifications →

Stainless Steel Shot

Grade rangeS110 – S330
StandardSAE J827
Best forBlade and corrosion-sensitive peening without ferrous contamination risk
View specifications →

Applications

Key uses in this industry

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Turbine Blade Shot Peening

Steam and gas turbine blades operate under extreme centrifugal and thermal loading where fatigue and stress-corrosion cracking are the primary failure modes. Controlled shot peening introduces a compressive residual stress layer that suppresses crack initiation, extending blade life and improving resistance to stress-corrosion cracking in aggressive steam environments.

  • Induces compressive stress to resist fatigue and SCC
  • Controlled Almen intensity per SAE J443 saturation curves
  • Suited to LP/HP blade roots, fir-tree fixings, and aerofoils
  • Coverage verification to specification on critical zones

Recommended media

Cut Wire Shot or Stainless Steel Shot

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Boiler Tube Cleaning

Boiler tubes, headers, and economiser sections accumulate mill scale, oxide layers, and fireside deposits that impair heat transfer and mask defects. Steel grit blasting removes scale and oxidation to deliver a clean, profiled surface for inspection, weld overlay, and high-temperature protective coatings in thermal power plants.

  • Removes mill scale, oxide, and fireside deposits
  • Restores heat-transfer efficiency on tube surfaces
  • Prepares tubes for weld overlay and thermal spray coatings
  • Achieves Sa 2.5 cleanliness per ISO 8501-1

Recommended media

Steel Grit G18 – G40

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Wind Turbine Tower Prep

Wind turbine tower sections require thorough surface preparation before protective coating application. Steel grit blasting removes mill scale and oxidation from rolled steel plates and welded shell sections, creating the anchor profile required by high-build epoxy and zinc-rich primer systems for long-term corrosion protection in exposed environments.

  • Sa 2.5 surface preparation of tower section steel plates
  • Angular anchor profile for high-build epoxy primer systems
  • Suitable for automated blast rooms in tower fabrication facilities
  • Supports 25-year design life corrosion protection requirements

Recommended media

Steel Grit G18 – G25

Compliance

Standards & certifications

SAE J443

Procedures for Using Standard Shot Peening Test Strip — defines Almen strip types and the saturation curve methodology used to validate turbine blade peening.

AMS 2430

Shot Peening, Automatic — specifies media type, Almen intensity, coverage, and saturation requirements applied to turbine and rotating components.

SAE J827

Steel Shot — defines chemical composition, hardness, microstructure, density, and sieve analysis requirements for cast steel shot.

SAE J1993

Steel Grit — specifies hardness grades, sieve distribution, and physical properties for cast steel grit used in boiler and penstock profiling.

ISO 8501-1

Surface Preparation Standards — defines cleanliness grades Sa 1 through Sa 3 for blast-cleaned steel surfaces before high-temperature and anti-corrosion coatings.

NACE / ISO 8503

Surface Profile Standards — defines anchor-profile grades that govern coating adhesion on penstocks and components in corrosive power-plant environments.

Ready to improve your power plant reliability?

Our technical team can recommend the correct abrasive grade, hardness, and size for your turbine, boiler, generator, or hydro application — with full documentation to support your quality system.

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