Water pumps

Water jet cutting

The principle of cutting material with a water jet is based on the intense hydro-erosive effect of a narrow water stream with a high flow velocity of the water medium, which comes out of at the nozzle outlet at a pressure of several thousand Bar. In order to improve the cutting effect, especially when cutting metal materials, abrasives in powder form (corundum, etc.) are added to the water medium.

In the field of water jet cutting, we work with the following companies:

What is a water jet

The process of water jet cutting works on the same principle as the water erosion that can be seen in nature - just accelerated by orders of magnitude and concentrated.  The water falling on the surface of the material can release particles from it, which it then washes away.  This effect is further enhanced by admixtures in the water, whether it be  previously released material or an added abrasive substance.

The cutting "tool" is therefore a very strong jet of water, or a thin stream of water with a high pressure (up to 400 MPa) and a high speed (up to four times the speed of sound). This technology is called hydro-erosive material cutting; when an abrasives is used, it is called hydro-abrasive cutting. A mixture of water and an abrasive that aids the cutting process is used for working with hard and tough materials. Natural materials are used as the abrasive material - certain types of sand, natural garnet, corundum, olivine, steel in the form of a granulate or powder, glass and ceramic balls, as well as plastic abrasives or aluminium oxide.

Water jet applications

Water jet cutting is often used in the manufacture of machines parts and other devices. Applications have been found for it in many industries, from mining to aviation. Because the water jet can be easily regulated, it can be used to cut different types of materials, from fish "fingers" to titanium in a wide range of thicknesses. There are very few materials that cannot be cut with the water jet; one of them is hardened safety glass, which is shattered during cutting regardless of the technology used.

Advantages of water jet cutting

The most important advantage of water jet cutting is the fact that it does not create a heat-affected zone on the material, so it does not affect the internal structure of the material and its associated properties. Thanks to the cold cutting method, it is possible to, for example, cut thermally sensitive materials such as wood, thermoplastics, laminates and similar materials. It can also cut multi-layered materials. The minimum force of the jet on the material being cut does not cause microcracks. It is an environmentally friendly technology, and no harmful fumes are produced during the cutting process. At the same time, the material can be used efficiently, because the width of the cut is between 0.1 and 1.5 mm and it is sufficient to leave a gap of only a few millimetres between the individual parts being cut.

Cutting machines

Water from the local distribution system is used in water jet cutting machines. It is appropriate to treat this water in order to improve the cutting efficiency and service life of the machine. The filtering part of the machine is used for this purpose, and it can provide the softening, deionization or reverse osmosis of the water in addition to the classic filtration function. The "heart" of the system is a high-pressure pump (multiplier) that generates the working pressure of the water. It includes smoothing - a pressure magazine that allows the continuous supply of pressurized water. The cutting part of the system is at the end. It includes the abrasive hopper, which mixes with the pressurized water in the mixing chamber, which is in the cutting head. It also has a cutting head with a nozzle that has a diameter in the order of tenths of a millimetre. The water and abrasive mixture flows from it at a high speed and hits the material, thereby cutting it. It is generally not necessary to further process the cutting edge after cutting.