How Metal Water Jet Cutting Works

Waterjet Cutting is a Sheet Metal Fabrication process where a high-pressure jet of water is used to perform cuts in a metal sheet.

This process differentiates itself from Plasma Cutting and Laser Cutting mainly because it doesn’t generate heat in the cutting process, preventing the cut material from being affected by thermal-related processes.

How does Waterjet Cutting work?

This Sheet Metal Manufacturing method applies a highly pressurized stream of water or water-abrasive mix into a material sheet to cut it into freeform shapes.

The process is a hyper-accelerated erosion process that is seen as cutting due to the enormous speed of the water stream. A hydraulic pump forces water through a pipe system that feeds pressure into the stream until it is finally propelled through a ruby, sapphire, or diamond nozzle, which hyper-focuses water into a laser-thin and powerful water jet. This process makes this fabrication capable of cutting a remarkable variety of materials.

Types of Waterjet Cutters

Depending on the strength of the material to be cut, it might or not be necessary to add an abrasive agent into the water stream to power up the cutting power.

Pure Waterjet Cutting

Only water is used in this process. The pressure added into the stream is powerful enough to cut through softer materials like rubber, foam, leather, and some softer plastics and metals.

Abrasive Waterjet Cutting

When there’s a need to cut more rigid materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, or brass, an abrasive is added to the highly pressurized cutting mix. The most common add-on materials are silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, sand, and garnet, the latter being the most used.

What materials can a waterjet cut?

Waterjet cutting is one of the most versatile manufacturing methods. Thanks to its nature, its cutting capacity doesn’t depend on the material but on the pressure and abrasive added into the water stream, making it ideal for cutting from foam to stone and metals up to 300 mm in thickness.

Benefits and Limitations of Waterjet Cutting

Benefits:

• Great edge quality

• Cost-effective

• Accuracy

• Material versatility

• No heat produced

• Minimum kerf

Limitations:

• Cutting time

• Greater thickness, less clean the cut

• Single-piece production costs

Post-processing and finishing after Waterjet Cutting

Waterjet cutting creates cleaner cuts and overall cleaner parts. Because of this, post-processing might be less necessary. However, post-processing and finishing processes are available, depending on your project’s needs.

Some standard processes are:

• Deburring: To remove any resulting sharp or rough edges.

• Sanding: To smooth out any rough or uneven surfaces.

• Polishing: To create a high-gloss finish on the metal.

• Painting: To add color to the metal or to protect it from corrosion.

• Anodizing: To create a protective oxide layer on the surface of the metal.

• Welding: To fuse two or more metal parts.

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