Waterjet cutting machines first appeared in 1970 and began to be used in industry in 1982. And it is mainly in the automobile, aviation, and glass industries.
However, the high-pressure water-cutting technology used by waterjet cutting machines originated in Scotland more than 100 years ago.
How does the high-pressure water-cutting technology appear?
In 1936, mining engineers in the United States and the Soviet Union successfully used high-pressure water jets for coal mining and mining. By 1956, the former Soviet Union used 2000 bar pressure water to cut rocks. High-pressure water cutting is not a patent. It was not until 1979 that a professor at Columbia University in the United States added abrasives to high-pressure water. Through the high-pressure jet of water and the grinding action of abrasives, the completion of the cutting process was accelerated.
Two kinds of application methods for waterjet cutter
Of course, the application method of the waterjet cutting machine is not single. Some cutting equipment is sand-free cutting, while some are sand cutting. Several kinds of water-cutting equipment widely used in the market include dynamic water cutting, large water cutting, three Stack water cutting, and small water cutting. The pressure on the surface of the object is from 100 MPa to 200 MPa. And the treatment of many dangerous industrial products requires water cutting to complete.
The father of the water jet
Since we mentioned the history of waterjet cutting machines today, the following person we have to mention.
People have long recognized Dr. Norman Franz as the father of the water jet. He was the first to study ultra-high pressure (UHP) waterjet cutting tools. Ultra-high pressure is defined as greater than 30,000 psi.
Dr. Franz, a forestry engineer, wanted to find a new way of cutting large tree trunks into lumber. In 1950, for the first time, Franz placed very heavy weights on a column of water, forcing water through a tiny nozzle. He was given brief bursts of high-pressure jets (exceeding current pressure many times) and was able to cut wood and other materials. His later research involved more continuous water flow, but he found it very difficult to obtain continuous high pressure. At the same time, the life of parts is just a few minutes, rather than weeks or months today.
Dr. Franz never built a mass-produced woodcutter. Today wood cutting is one of the least important applications of UHP technology. But Dr. Franz proved that the high-speed converging water flow has great cutting energy, and the application of this energy is far beyond Dr. Franz’s dream.
How the abrasive waterjet has been invented?
In 1979, Dr. Mohamed Hashish, working in Flow Research Laboratories, began researching ways to increase the cutting power of water jets to cut metals and other hard materials. Dr. Hashish is widely regarded as the father of abrasive waterjets, having invented the method of adding abrasive to ordinary waterjets. He used garnet as the sand material. With this approach, a waterjet (with garnet grit) is capable of cutting almost any material. In 1980, people used abrasive waterjets for the first time to cut metal, glass, and concrete. In 1983, the world’s first commercial abrasive waterjet cutting system came out and people used it cut automotive glass.
Its first user
One of the first users of the technology was the aerospace industry, which discovered that waterjets were ideal for cutting stainless steel, titanium, and high-strength lightweight synthetic materials used in military aircraft, as well as carbon fiber composites (already used in civilian aircraft). Since then, people have used abrasive waterjets in many other industries such as processing plants, stone, tile, glass, jet engines, construction, the nuclear industry, shipyards, and many more.
Waterjet cutter produced in China
At the end of the 20th century, waterjet cutting technology was introduced in China. In the past 40 years, China has conducted research on ultra-high-pressure waterjet cutting technology. The successful development of my country’s first water jet in the late 1990s marked that my country has become the fifth water jet producer. At present, the general operating pressure of commercial water-cutting equipment produced in China is generally around 220MPa-400MPa.
CNC ultra-high-pressure water-cutting machine is gradually becoming an emerging industry in China’s manufacturing field. Its technical level also affects China’s overall manufacturing technology level to a certain extent, affecting and even driving the development of related industries. Its economic and technical benefits are increasing day by day. The rapid promotion and expansion of water-cutting technology in my country’s ultra-high pressure application field.
So do you want to learn more about the China waterjet cutter? Just click here, and you will see more details.
