There are two main steps involved in the waterjet cutting process. The Electric Servo Pump generally pressurizes normal tap water at pressure levels above 50,000 psi; to produce the energy required for cutting. Water is then focused through a small precious stone orifice to form an intense cutting stream.
In the 1950s, forestry engineer Dr. Norman Franz experimented with an
early form of water jet cutter to cut lumber. However, the technology
didn't advance notably until the 1970s. Today the water jet is unparalleled in many aspects of cutting and has changed the way many
products are manufactured. Many types of water jets exist today,
including plain water jets, abrasive water jets, percussive water jets,
cavitation jets and hybrid jets.
The key to cutting metal with water is to keep the spray coherent.
Waterjets are able to cut because the spray is channeled through a very
narrow jeweled nozzle at a very high pressure to keep the spray
coherent. Unlike metal cutters, a waterjet never gets dull and it cannot
overheat.
Low pressure waterjets were first used for mining gold in California
in 1852. Steam and hot water jets were used in the early 1900s for
cleaning. High pressure waterjets were used for mining in the 1960s, and
about 10 years ago industry began using waterjets for cutting. Abrasive
water jets (abrasivejets) were first used in industry in about 1980.
In the past, only one piece of metal could be cut at a time with a
saw or other metal cutting mechanical process. It was time intensive and
expensive. Computer-controlled waterjet and abrasivejet cutting are
used today in industry to cut many soft and hard materials. The plain
water-abrasive mixture leaves the nozzle at more than 900 mph. The
latest machines can cut to within two thousandths of an inch, and have
jet speeds around Mach 3.
Waterjets can cut:
A water jet can cut a "sandwich" of different materials up to four
inches thick. This odorless, dust-free and relatively heat-free process
can also cut something as thin as five thousandths of an inch. The tiny
jet stream permits the first cut to also be the final finished surface.
This single cutting process saves material costs and machining costs.
For example, the engineer merely gives a gear drawing to the cutting
shop via a diskette or e-mail and gets the finished gear back.
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