Why Choose Water jet Cutting?

Water Jet Cutting Services – Why Choose Water jet Cutting?
Water jet cutting services are widely used in engineering and building circles to cut a variety of materials. Water jet cutting differs from laser jet cutting in several ways. Understanding these differences will aid you, as a hobbyist or a professional, to select the best suited cutting method for your specific requirements.

Waterjet cutting Machine

Waterjet cutting uses a highly pressured jet of water to cut through materials. The high level of pressure required is achieved through forcing the water through a tiny opening at pressures of up to 60,000psi.

To further enhance the cutting action, a material called garnett is added to the water to increase the abrasion.

The resulting cutting action is similar to that of water naturally cutting its way through the earth, forming river beds over thousands of years, but performed in a fast and precise way.

This is abrasive cutting' can cut through a variety of materials, and a large range of thicknesses, which is where water jet cutting holds advantages over laser jet cutting which has a limited range of materials and thicknesses on which it is effective.

The variety of materials that can be cut using a water jet include;
Metals – aluminium, brass, bronze, steel, titanium, copper, other metal alloys

Ceramics and Stone – granite, marble

Composites

Concrete

Glass - fiberglass

Plastics and rubbers – Kevlar, foam

Wood

Depending on the material, the thickness can be up to 8" thick with tolerances as little as 0.005" – 0.010".

Water jet cutting uses no heat, so it is well suited to materials that are damaged or adversely affected with the application of heat. Waterjet cutting leaves the structural integrity of materials intact, meaning it can be used on plastics, wood and other materials which cannot be cut using a laser cutter.

Selecting the right cutter for your engineering or building project can save you money, time and the expense of having to replace a sheet or length of building material because of an imprecise cut.

Waterjet cutting glass

Cutting Glass
Although glass is a brittle material, it can be cut using an abrasive waterjet and the results can be quite stunning. Most glass cutting is done for artistic purposes.

There are a few main items to consider when cutting glass:
- Quality of glass
- Abrasive and water delivery
- Support of the glass
- Design of the part



Quality of glass
Some types of glass cut much easier than other types of glass. Generally speaking, higher quality glass that is thicker tends to be easier to cut than low quality glass or thin glass. The manner in which the glass was cooled at the factory affects the temper and how brittle and how difficult it is to cut later on, and some of the cheaper glass is not as good.



Tempered glass is impossible to cut with a waterjet, as the glass is under stress. When you begin cutting it, tempered glass will shatter into many small fragments.

Cutting Titanium with Water Jet

Waterjet cutting titanium
Water jet cutting is a recent innovation in cutting titanium. A high speed jet containing entrained abrasive is very effective for high cutting speeds and for producing smooth burr-free edges. Sections up to three inches have been cut and the process is relatively unaffected by differences in hardness of the titanium workpiece.






Titanium can be economically machined on a routine production basis if shop procedures are set up to allow for the physical characteristics common to the metal. The factors which must be given consideration are not complex, but they are vital to successfully machining titanium.

The different grades of titanium, i.e., commercially pure and various alloys, do not have identical machining characteristics, any more than all steels, or all aluminum grades have identical characteristics. Like stainless steel, the low thermal conductivity of titanium inhibits dissipation of heat within the workpiece itself, thus requiring proper application of coolants.