WATERJET CUTTING

The waterjet is capable of cutting a wide range of materials of to a thickness of 200mm. 

Abrasive water-jets are used by industries such as the automobile, aerospace, and glass industries, to create precision parts from hard-to-cut materials. A pump pressurises water up to 55,000 psi and then forces it through a small sapphire orifice. Garnet abrasive is then pulled into this flow of high-speed water, and exits the main nozzle as a stream of abrasive-laden water moving at 1000 feet per second (305 meters/sec). This jet of water and abrasive is then directed at the material to be machined. The cut is extremely fine and in most cases, little if any secondary machining is necessary. The abrasive garnet can be 'turned off' to cut softer materials such as wood, plastics, etc.

Advantages

• Clean, smooth, burr free finish
• Closely spaced parts – minimises material wastage and therefore cost
• Tolerance of ±0.1mm on 50mm thick parts
• ‘Green’ process – no hazardous waste
• Cold process – no material hardening or changes in structure
• No material discolouration