Water jet cutting

The water jet cutting is a separate Production process, where water is used under high pressure to cut through various materials. The water jet cutting is regarded as a particularly environmentally friendly, economical and material-friendly separation process.
Depending on the material to be separated, pure water or water with an abrasive addition is optionally used in water jet cutting. While pure water is suitable for cutting soft materials such as plastics, foams, films and paper, an abrasive water jet is required for separating steel, ceramics or glass. The water jet cutting has proven itself primarily in the cutting of composites and is applied across the industry due to its extensive advantages.

Technical foundations for water jet cutting

A water jet cutting machine is used for water jet cutting. This is a machine tool which is equipped with a CNC control and achieves a high degree of automation when cutting materials.

1. Generate high pressure

To cut materials with pure water, very high pressures are required. For this reason, the water jet cutting machine is equipped with an ultra high pressure pump. This is able to generate pressures of more than 6,000 bar. For comparison: Powerful water throwers from the police reach a pressure of about 20 bar.

2. Conversion of pressure into speed

In order that the water jet can be directed at the surface to be processed at the highest precision and speed, a nozzle converts the pressure into a high speed. Usually a tiny gemstone nozzle is used in this step. The resulting beam is not thicker than a human hair.

3.Addiction of abrasive (/enpending on material)

If harder materials such as steel, titanium or aluminum are to be cut, an abrasive agent is added to the water jet in an additional mixing chamber. These are usually pomegranate or olive sand. The abrasive agent significantly increases the cutting force and enables the precise separation of metallic and mineral materials as well as fiber composite materials.

Which materials can be cut?

When a pure water jet is used without the addition of abrasives, mainly soft and tough materials can be cut. These include:

• Paper, cardboard, carton
• Leather
• Rubber
• Plastics such as PVC
• Glass fiber reinforced plastic
• Carbon fiber reinforced plastic
• Insulating materials

The various variations in water jet cutting

In addition to the method variants, pure water cutting and abrasive cutting is distinguished, in particular, between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional cutting. In the case of two-dimensional water jet cutting, the water jet is always discharged at right angles to the workpiece surface. Accordingly, only flat cutting surfaces can be realized.

advantages of the method

The advantages of water jet cutting are diverse and have led to the fact that the process today enjoys great popularity across industries and materials. Among the most important benefits are:

Find companies for waterjet cutting

If you are looking for a Company for water jet cutting, Techpilot will find a large number of specialized companies. Techpilot offers the largest supplier pool for orders from drawing parts in Europe and is therefore a suitable tool for finding new suppliers. Buyers use the platform completely free of charge. The useful supplier search function offers numerous filter functions and thus enables a quick and easy search for suitable contractors. Companies for complete machining with subsequent surface treatment can be found as well as companies specialized in technology.

You can either write orders publicly or send them to selected companies. The incoming offers are clearly compared and select the most suitable manufacturing operation for you. For all activities, the Techpilot team supports you by phone, chat or email. The technically trained staff has well-founded expertise in the industry and can help you in any way to create inquiries.

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