What Is Waterjet Cutting?

Waterjet cutting uses a high-pressure stream of water mixed with abrasive materials to cut a variety of materials.
A high pressure water pump pressurizes the water. This water flows into the cutting head through the high pressure pipe. In the cutting head, the water flows through the nozzles and becomes a very fine stream. The stream cuts any material placed in front of it.
Waterjet cutters can generate pressures up to 100,000 psi or approximately 6900 bars. In other words, the pressure of a fire hose is usually between 8 and 20 bar. Waterjet nozzles are aided by vision systems to facilitate precise and efficient cutting of parts.
Easy to manipulate the nozzle to suit the cutting of different materials. Depending on whether abrasive substances are used, there are two types of waterjet cutting methods:
Abrasive waterjet cutting
Pure waterjet cutting

Abrasive waterjet cutting

1. high-pressure water inlet; 2. jewel (ruby or diamond); 3. abrasive inlet; 4. mixing tube; 5. guard; 6. cutting water jet; 7. cut material
When cutting harder materials, abrasives are mixed with water. This takes place in a mixing chamber located in the cutting head just before the abrasive jet exits the system.
Popular waterjet cutting agents are suspended sand, garnet, and alumina. As the thickness/hardness of the material increases, so must the hardness of the abrasives used.
With the right abrasives, different types of materials can be cut. Common materials that abrasives cut are ceramics, metals, stones, and thick plastics. However, there are certain exceptions such as tempered glass and diamonds that cannot be cut with abrasive water. Tempered glass breaks when cut with a jet of water.

Pure waterjet cutting

Water jet cutters also work without the addition of abrasives, especially for cutting soft materials. A waterjet cutter intended only for this purpose does not have a mixing chamber or a nozzle. A high-pressure pump forces pressurized water out of the hole and creates precise cuts on the workpiece. Although most industrial cutting equipment using water jet technology allows the use of both methods.
The water jet cleaning process is less invasive compared to abrasive water jet cutting. The jet stream is also exceptionally gentle and creates no additional pressure on the workpiece.
Pure waterjet cutting is ideal for softer materials such as foam, felt, wood, rubber, food and thin plastics.