Waterjet Cutting Basics
A Waterjet is a tool used at high pressure and velocity that cuts or slices into materials like metal using water or a mix of an abrasive substance and water. Like in nature with water erosion, this process is more heavily concentrated and accelerated. It is used to make parts for devices and machinery this is used for fabricating and manufacturing. This is the most common method used when using high temperatures, as the materials can be sensitive to the heat. A number of companies use this tooling technique. From Aerospace to mining, the tool can shape, carve, and cut.
When water jet cutting, there are six processing characteristics. The main one is using a water jet intensifier pump that streams a high velocity of abrasive particles with a stream of very high-pressure water (30,000 to 90,000 psi).
The other processes include: producing no heat damage to the edges or surface of a work piece, the nozzles are made from sintered boride, used for heat sensitive, very hard, or delicate materials, a taper cut of less than one degree, (it can be eliminated or reduced if the cutting process is slowed), and how far away the nozzle is from the work piece will determine the removal rate of material and the size of the kerfs. The distance should be .125” and the temperature does not play a factor in the process.
Water jet cutting parts are numbered one through five for edge quality. The lower numbers will be a rough finish; a high number will be smooth. If the material is thin, the cutting speed could actually be faster on Quality one then say Quality five for example.
With modern technology, there is now five-axis water jet cutting. Instead of the typical three axes, two more are added. This gives many more possibilities of applying applications for cutting with water. It could be used for cutting contours on many surfaces for example.