Waterjet Cutting - Emerging Metal Shaping Technology

"This paper is concerned with the application of an abrasive waterjet for metal shaping. The waterjet cutting technology uses water compressed to the pressure up to 55,000 psia which is accelerated in a cylindric nozzle. Abrasive particles are then supplied into the water stream and accelerated by the water. Cutting occurs via the interaction between the water-particles stream and a workpiece that causes material erosion at the impingement zone. The mechanism of this interaction enables shaping of practically any material with a minimal effect on the metallurgy of subsurface. The motion of the jet penetrating through a material body is guided by a robotic arm. A waterjet cutter is becoming one of the principal tools for shaping titanium, super-alloys and other hard-to-machine metals and composites. The shaping, resulting from the waterjet cutter, is very similar to laser beam cutting. However, unlike laser processing, there is no damage to the subsurface structure.The presented work discusses the experimental study of cutting of titanium plates. The results of these experiments demonstrate the potential of the abrasive waterjet as a shaping tool. IntroductionOne of the main avenues in the development of metal shaping is the use of high energy beams as cutting tools (1,2). There are a number of advanced beam oriented material removal technologies, such as laser, electron beam, plasma and abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting. The advantages of AWJ cutting are well understood and documented (3-14). This technology has the potential of becoming the principal tool for netshaping and netsurfacing of parts. However, the use of AWJ is currently limited to cutting of hard-to-machine materials such as titanium, superalloys, glass, composites, etc. The cost of A W J cutting is much higher and the productivity is much lower than those of the thermal cutting. At the same time abrasive waterjet can be used for shaping any existing technological material from fabrics, plastics, aluminum to glass, composites, and diamonds. The material losses during AWJ shaping are minimal. The roughness and waveness of the surfaces generated during AWJ cutting are substantially less than those of the thermal cutting. Due to the size of the jet cross-section total force exerted by the jet on a workpiece does not exceed 30-50 newtons. This terminates the need in the use of complex fixture for material holding. Low applied forces and low surface temperature prevent the damage of metal subsurface in the course of cutting. The small size of the impingement area will determine the limited width of the kerf. Due to the size of kerf and unidirectional character of the water jet the formation of practically any metal contour is possible."