Types of pills

Cast steel shot
Its hardness is generally 40-50HRC, and when processing hard metals, the hardness can be increased to 57-62HRC. Cast steel shot has good toughness and is widely used, with a service life several times that of cast iron shot.
Cast iron shot
Its hardness ranges from 58 to 65HRC, making it brittle and easy to break. Short lifespan, not widely used. Mainly used in situations where high shot peening intensity is required.
Glass shot
The hardness is lower than the first two, mainly used for stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, magnesium, and other materials that do not allow iron pollution. It can also be used for secondary processing after steel shot peening to remove iron pollution and reduce the surface roughness of parts.
Ceramic pellets
The chemical composition of ceramic pellets is approximately 67% ZrO2, 31% SiO2, and 2% Al2O3 as the main inclusions. They are made by melting, atomizing, drying, selecting circles, and screening, with a hardness equivalent to HRC57-63. Its outstanding performance is higher density and hardness than glass. Originally used in the early 1980s for strengthening aircraft components. Ceramic pellets have higher strength, longer lifespan than glass pellets, and lower prices. They have now been extended to surface strengthening of non-ferrous metals such as titanium alloys and aluminum alloys.
So, there are a total of four categories of pellets: cast steel pellets, cast iron pellets, glass pellets, and ceramic pellets
Special instructions:
Glass shot for shot peening and glass shot for other purposes are two different concepts. The biggest characteristic of shot peened glass shot is that its hardness is not less than 6-7 Mohs and has a certain degree of toughness, with a minimum roundness rate of not less than 90%. However, there is no requirement for hardness for road reflective glass pellets. Generally, ordinary glass can be used as raw material, and the minimum roundness requirement is 75%.
The price difference between the two is significant, but the appearance is almost the same. If ordinary glass balls are used for shot peening, it seems that the cost is lower. However, during shot peening, the crushing rate is higher, and when processing workpieces with higher strength, it is almost a one-time crushing. In contrast, the total cost has actually increased significantly.