Water Jet

Two different technologies exist. Material can be cut by pure water or included with abrasive particles added to the water. Working with pure waterjet cutting, the static pressure of the compact waterjet and the erosive effect of the droplets are used to cut the material. In abrasive waterjet applications there are solid particles incorporated to the thin waterjet by an injector. The waterjet serves to accelerate the particles, which cause micro-cutting action on the material.

The diameter of the jet rages between 0.08 und 0.33 mm. The pressure to achive the necessary energy for the water jet is up to 400 MPa. (4000 bar). Depending on the material, pure water jet is able to cut up to a thickness of 300mm.

Cutting with abrasives, the diameter of the focus ranges from 0.6 und 1 mm. Usually sharped-edged minerals such as garnet or olivin are used as solid particles. Grain size ranges from 0.1 to 0.3 mm. Materials up to a thickness of 250mm are separatable.

The quality of the cut depends strongly on the speed. Cutting weal materials, there can be driven up to 1.2 meters per minute. An aluminum plate with thickness of 1 mm can be separated with a good quality by 0.1 to 0.2 meters per minute.