Abrasive Waterjet Cutting
Abrasive waterjet cutting differs from pure water jet cutting in just a few ways. In pure waterjet cutting, the supersonic stream erodes the material.
In the abrasive waterjet cutting, the waterjet stream accelerates abrasive particles and those particles, not the water, erode the material.
The abrasive waterjet cutting machine is much more powerful than a pure waterjet and is capable of cutting hard materials such as metals, glass, stone, and composites: none of which can be cut with a pure waterjet.
Abrasive waterjet cutting machines using standard parameters can cut materials with hardness up to and slightly beyond aluminum oxide ceramic (often called alumina, AD 99.9).
Abrasive Waterjet Attributes
Extremely versatile process
No Heat Affected Zones
Attributes of Abrasive Waterjet
No mechanical stresses
Easy to program
Thin stream (0.020to 0.050 inch in diameter)
Extremely detailed geometry
Thin material cutting
10 inches thick cutting
Stack cutting
Little material loss due to cutting
Simple to fixture
Low cutting forces (under 1 lb. while cutting)
One jet setup for nearly all abrasive jet jobs
Easily switched from single to multi-head use
Quickly switch from pure waterjet to abrasive waterjet cutting
Reduced secondary operations
Little or no burr