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Waterjet Cutting
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TechnologyWaterjet Cutting

Waterjet Cutting


The first technical applications of waterjet technology date back more than 100 years. Around 1870, waterjets were first used to extract gold. In subsequent years, this technology underwent rapid development.

Initially the applications were limited to the mining industry. It was not until the middle of this century that waterjets came to be increasingly used for cleaning and removing material. Once suitable pumps had been developed, it was possible to increase water pressure far enough to be able to cut non-metallic materials, too. Then, at the start of the eighties, solid particles were added, the most recent innovation in the evolution of waterjet technology that makes it possible to cut practically any material with the waterjet and abrasive waterjet.


Waterjet technology has a variety of advantages in terms of the specific process:

  • The cutting process is "cold" so the material being cut is not subject to any thermal influence.
  • The extremely small cutting gap enables optimum material exploitation.
  • The waterjet and abrasive waterjet cutting process can be started and stopped in the material.
  • Reaction forces are extremely low thus enabling simple handling.
  • Two-dimensional and three-dimensional cutting possible.
  • The "waterjet" tool works independent of direction.

Working principle
Essentially, we can distinguish between two different processes. Cutting with the pure waterjet and abrasive waterjet cutting. While pure waterjet cutting relies on the static pressure of the compact waterjet and the erosive effect of the droplets in order to cut the material, in abrasive waterjet applications it is the solid particles incorporated in the jet that cause micro-cutting action on the material - in this case the waterjet serves merely to accelerate the solid particles. Essentially, both types of jet can be used to cut and clean and remove material. When waterjet technology is used for cutting materials, it is possible to obtain a variety of qualities of the cut edge depending on various parameters. Various quality zones are created on the cutting surface whose size will depend on the selection of cutting parameters.


The waterjet

Typical waterjet cutting applications:

  • Foodstuff portioning (frozen food, bread, cakes and pastries, chocolate, ice-cream).
  • Paper product cutting (nappies, corrugated cardboard).
  • Textile cutting (leather, furniture fabrics, carpets).
  • Separation of mounted boards.
  • Trimming of plastic moldings and carped shapes for the automobile industry.
  • Prepreg and laminate material cutting for the aircraft and aerospace industries.
  • Cutting of absorbing materials.
  • Cutting of gaskets and special components.


The abrasive waterjet
The energy density of a pure waterjet is insufficient to process many technical materials, which is why solid particles are added to the water jet for such applications. This is required in cases where it would not be possible to process materials that could not be cut with the pure water jet and in such cases where far greater cutting performance is necessary.
The so-called abrasive is usually a sharp-edged mineral material such as garnet or olivine at a grain size of approx. 0.1 to 0,3 mm. Depending on the specific cutting application, the amount of abrasive required varies between 100 and 500 g/min.

The pressure used in abrasive waterjet cutting is the same as in pure waterjet cutting, i.e. up to 400 MPa. The jet diameter is between 0.6 and 1.2 mm. Main applications are processing very hard materials and cutting complicated contours.

Below is a list of typical applications:

  • Cutting high-grade steels, particularly nickel-based alloys.
  • Cutting glass, bullet-proof glass and acrylic glass.
  • Decorative parts cut out of natural stone such as granite and marble.
  • Cutting materials of the aircraft and aerospace industries such as thick fibre-reinforced plastics and titanium alloys.
  • Cutting high-tech ceramics.
  • Piece part manufacturers and job shops.

All in all, waterjet technology makes it possible to process a wide range of materials. Thanks to the specific processing advantages it offers, it is thus a real alternative to conventional cutting techniques in many areas of application.

 
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