The principle of water jet cutting
What is water jet cutting?
Water jet cutting is one of the non-thermal cutting processes. With the addition of abrasive particles, a high-pressure water jet cuts almost all types of conductive and non-conductive workpieces, even in very large material thicknesses. The water prevents any thermal impact on the material, so that narrow kerf widths and almost rectangular cut edges are achieved. This allows high-quality cutting of very small contours. However, because the frictional forces on the cut surfaces are high, the water jet loses energy as the depth increases and the cut quality deteriorates. The water reduces exposure to dust, smoke and vapours for the user. After the cutting process, however, the water has to be treated or filtered and the abrasive particles have to be disposed of separately. Water jet cutting is considerably slower than the thermal cutting processes with plasma, laser or oxy-fuel.