What
can the waterjet cut?
Advantages
of the water jet
Comparism to other technologies: laser,
plasma, milling,
press
Maintenance
Materials
that can be cut with plain water
Paper,
corrugated cardboard, plastics, composites, form plastic, sealing
materials, foodstuffs.
Materials
suitable for abrasive water jet cutting
Plate
glass, bullet-proof glass (not toughened glass), natural and artificial
stone, special steel, iron and artificial stone, special steel, iron and
non-ferrous metals, hardened steel, etc.
Advantages
of
using
a high
pressure water jet cutting
- No thermal stress on materials
- High flexibility thanks to integration of water
jet
into two or multi-axis guide systems
- Little swarf due to narrow width of cut
- Minimum reaction forces
- No deformation of material surface
- Commencement
of cutting at any point
- Cheaper than other processes
- Cut thin stuff, or thick stuff
- Make all sorts of shapes with only one tool.
- Only one tool to qualify / No tool changes required
- No mechanical stresses
- Fast Setup: Fast turn around on the machine.Make a part, then
2 minutes be making a completely different part from a completely
different material
- Leaves a satin smooth finish, thus reducing secondary operations
- Clean cutting process without gasses or oils
- Makes its own start holes
- Narrow kerf removes only a small amount of material.
- Your "scrap" metal is easier to recycle or re-use (no oily
chips!)
- Modern systems are now very easy to learn
- You can trade off tolerance vs speed from feature to feature on your
part
- Can easily switch between high production, and single piece
production, on the same machine, with no extra effort
- Are very safe
- Draw
the part and cut the part. It is that easy! Everyone in your
shop can learn to use it quickly.
When
comparing with lasers
- Abrasive jets can machine many materials that lasers cannot. (reflective
materials in particular such as aluminum and copper.
- Uniformity of material is not very important to an
Abrasivejet.
- Abrasive jets do not heat your part, no thermal
distortion or hardening of the material
- Precision abrasive jet machines can obtain about the same or higher
tolerances than lasers (especially as thickness increases).
- Your capital equipment costs for water jet are generally much lower
than that for a laser
- Abrasive jets can machine thicker
materials
- Abrasive jets are safer. No burnt fingers, no noxious fumes, and no
fires
- Abrasive jets are more environmentally
friendly
- Maintenance on the abrasive jet nozzle is simpler than that of a
laser
- Abrasive jets are capable of similar tolerances on thin parts, and
better on thicker parts thicker
- Abrasive jets do not loose much "focus" when cutting over
uneven surfaces
- While lasers are often faster on thinner materials, it may be
cheaper and faster to simply buy two or three abrasive jet machining
centers to do the same work. Also, you can stack materials
- Modern abrasive jets are typically much easier to operate and
maintain than lasers which means that every employee in your shop can
be quickly trained to run one!
- You
can't stay long at the same point with laser or fusion of material
will occur
- Laser
cut is under inches (near 4 inches for WJ), but can do a better job in
controlling depth of cut (ex.: cutting slot in tubing is
possible with a laser but difficult with abrasivejet)
- Laser
has higher power consumption (power factor about 2%) (ex.: for 1 kw
output you need 50 kw input for YAG) (CO2 more efficient, but less
precise ray)
- Laser
needs a good "chiller" for cooling.
When comparing with Plasma /
flame cutting
- Abrasivejets
provide a nicer edge finish
- Abrasivejets
don't heat the part
- Abrasivejets
can cut virtually any material
- Abrasivejets
are more precise
- Plasma
and flame cutting are typically faster
When
comparing with milling
- There
is only one tool to qualify on an abrasivejet
- Setup
and fixturing typically involves placing the material on the table
with an abrasivejet
- Clean-up
is much faster with an abrasivejet
- Programming
is easier and faster
- Machine
virtually any material.
When
comparing with a press
- Lower
cost per piece for short runs
- Place
holes closer to the materials edge
- Fast
turn-around
- Minimal
setup
- Thick
materials are fine
- Brittle
materials ok
- Hard
materials are easy
Maintenance
Waterjets certainly require
maintanence. Expect to change nozzle
parts frequently (daily), pump parts less
frequently but regularily enough. Expect that things will break when forced to operate at 35,000 to 60,000
PSI. That is a lot of pressure! It
is also wise to keep some critical spares at hand. Generally speaking, the higher the pressure
and the more on/off cycles
the equipment has to go through, the more frequently it will need maintenance.
Anyone can keep an
abrasive jet going with a days training. Mixing tubes, (part of the nozzle)
wear out and are easy to replace (often similar to replacing a drill bit).
Pumps will need periodic seal changes.
When maintaining your critical parts such as nozzle and seal components,
do so with care. Critical components are sensitive to dirt, dust,
microscopic scratches, etc. Our advice is to take these components
into a different room, wash them down (often with soap and water / or
ultrasonic cleaner), and then assemble them in a clean environment.
If
you have dirty water, you will either need to maintain
everything more often, or purchase a good water filtration system.
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