METAL INDUSTRY
Abrasive waterjet cutting is suitable for cutting all metals from aluminum foil to steels more than 300mm thick. The most common cutting materials are steels, aluminum, iron and special metals.
GLASS INDUSTRY
Glass can be cut with abrasive waterjet efficiently and accurately. The surface can withstand tempering well after cutting. Waterjet cutting is used to cut edges and holes.
RUBBER INDUSTRY
When cutting rubber with water, we need to know the desired cutting quality and the thickness of the rubber. This will help you choose the right cutting method. Waterjet cutting applications are widely used in the rubber industry.
WOOD AND PLYWOOD INDUSTRY
Wood and especially plywood are well suited for waterjet cutting. Thin plywood can also be cut without abrasive, leaving the surface natural without burning marks etc. that would occur from thermal processes.
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
The construction industry has many applications for waterjet cutting. The most common materials are ceramic tiles, insulating materials such as wool, Styrofoam and urethane insulation. Generally, all materials that require cutting in the building industry can be separated with waterjet.
COMPOSITE INDUSTRY
When cutting composite materials, the different properties of the different material layers is to be considered. With the right parameters, waterjet cutting is an effective way to cut both shapes and holes.
STONE INDUSTRY
Abrasive waterjet cutting of stone is fast and cost effective. Applications includes kitchen levels, openings, tombstones, stone decorations, etc.
PLASTIC AND FOAM INDUSTRY
When cutting plastics with waterjet, no harmful combustion gases are released from the material into the environment. Therefore, water cutting is popular in the plastics industry, allowing all possible shapes.
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
In the textile industry, waterjet cutting is used e.g. for cutting leather and complex cutting lines. Waterjet cutting enables precise cutting lines and thus cost-effective material usage.
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
The automotive industry has many applications where waterjet cutting can be used. The most common are textiles and composite structures. Usually, waterjet cutting is done by robot cells.
MARINE INDUSTRY
There are many uses for waterjet cutting when building boats, yachts and ships. Water cutting is most used for cutting metals, composites and textiles.
AVIATION INDUSTRY
In the aerospace and aviation industries, it is important that materials retain their typical properties. For this reason, waterjet cutting is an optimal method as it does not cause hardening or material reforming.
FOOD AND FEED INDUSTRY
Cutting food with waterjet has become more common in recent years. Waterjet cutting is a hygienic process and allows, among other things, cutting cakes, vegetables, fish, meat and bones – fresh or frozen.
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
Waterjet cutting machines are well suited for educational purposes. With a wide range of materials, machines can be used across departmental boundaries so that the entire school’s cutting needs can be covered by one machine.
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WATERJET CUTTING PROCESS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Waterjet cutting is a non-thermal cutting method that is based on a high velocity of a waterjet. Water is pressured into extremely high pressure (up to 6200 bar) and this jet is focused on the material that needs to be cut. With the power of erosion, the jet will go through the material separating the pieces. There are two main types of waterjet cutting: pure water cutting with only water and abrasive waterjet cutting, where abrasive is mixed into the waterjet. Both methods can be referred as waterjet cutting.
Depending on the material, a mixture of water and an abrasive substance can be used. Mixture of water and abrasive is used to cut hard materials such as metal or stone, while the pure water cutting is often used for softer materials such wood, plastic or rubber. This is called abrasive waterjet cutting but sometimes also referred only as waterjet cutting.
In practice all materials from one end to another. Tempered glass or materials with zero water tolerance cannot be cut. Most common materials for water jet cutting are aluminum, steel, iron, plywood, textiles, copper, bronze, porcelain, cardboard, composites, foams, insulation materials, stone, glass, carbon fiber, plastic, rubber, glass fiber, plex glass, tiles and bricks.
Yes, bevel cutting is possible. This requires that the waterjet cutting machine is equipped with a 5-axis cutting head. Muototerä uses on their own subcontracting water cutters that enables 56-degree angles. We have built waterjet cutting systems with up to 90-degree cutting angle.
Yes, stack cutting is possible. Water jet cutting is a non-thermal cutting method, so there is no risk that the parts would weld to each other due to thermal effects.
Depending on the material and cutting parameters (pure water or abrasive water jet cutting), typical cutting kerf ranges between 0.10 – 1.0 mm.
Water jet cutting machines manufactured by Muototerä, have maximum speed of either 40/100 m / min (pure water cutting machine) or 15 m / min (abrasive cutting). Different materials and thicknesses have different cutting speeds. For example, a 20 mm thick aluminum can be cut to approximately 130 – 600 mm per minute (3800 bar, the abrasive 350g / min), depending on the desired quality of surface. Cutting speed with pure water e.g. for plywood (6,5mm thick) is 5000 mm / min and e.g. 100 mm insulation wool can be cut with a maximum speed of 40 m / min.
The slower the waterjet is driven, the smaller the cone is formed. Eventually it will turn into negative by reducing the speed. The conicity is typically 0.05 – 0.2 mm, but with right parameters it can be close to zero. 5-axis cutting heads can be compensate conicity by turning the cutting head. This way the conicity can be minimized even with higher cutting speeds and in some cases removed completely.
Water jet cutting machine’s positioning and repeat accuracy is typically ±0.025 – 0.10 mm. The actual cutting accuracy depends on many factors: the material and cutting parameters (pressure, speed, type and amount of abrasive / min), the condition of wear parts of the machine, and the cutting table planarity (= wearing component). A typical cutting precision as measured from the upper surface of the piece is about ± 0.05 – ± 0.2 mm.
The quality of the surface is commonly expressed in the classification 1-5:
The quality of the surface is commonly expressed in the classification 1-5:
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