Water Jet Machining

Water jet machining technology involves the use of high-pressure water jets for cutting parts out of different types of material such as soft rubber, foam, extremely thin stuff such as foil, carpet, paper, cardboard, soft gasket material, candy bars, diapers, and soft wood. Its use is limited, as it cannot cut harder materials such as metals, glass, and hard wood.

The water used in water jet machining systems is pressurized between twenty and sixty thousand pounds per square inch (PSI) depending on the type of material being cut. The highly pressurized water is released through a tiny hole called "jewel" which is typically 0.007" to 0.015" in diameter, creating a very high velocity beam of water capable of cutting soft materials.

Water jet machining process is controlled with the help of computer numeric control (CNC) software that guides the water jet nozzle according to the lines and arcs of a computer aided design (CAD) drawing. The CAD drawing is a three dimensional (3D) graphic representation of parts that are to be fabricated. The technology has many advantages such as easy to use components, quick assembly process, reduced turn around time on the machine, complementariness to other machining techniques, and cutting without heating the material.

One major drawback of water jet machining is that the nozzle often gets blocked due to dust particles that might be present in the water. The other problem with water jet assemblies is that they are prone to constant wear and tear caused due to high-pressure water flowing out of tiny nozzles.

These drawbacks are however ignored, as water jets are the most environment friendly and safe machining technology used in the present era. It does not produce fine particles that might get into the human body and cause fatal diseases such as cancer. Particles if any are swept away with the strong force of the water jet and do not pollute the surrounding environment.

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