Waterjet Cutting

Process Definition & Working Principle

Waterjet cutting is a subtractive manufacturing process that removes material through the erosion caused by a high-velocity, high-pressure jet of water. The technology is divided into two primary process variants:

1. Pure Waterjet (PWJ): Utilizes a supersonic water stream alone to cut soft, porous, or lightweight materials.
2. Abrasive Waterjet (AWJ): Incorporates hard abrasive particles (typically almandine garnet) into the water stream, transforming it into a high-density erosion beam capable of cutting hard materials such as metals, stone, glass, and composites.

Physical Principles and Hydrodynamics

The physical foundation of the process relies on converting high-pressure potential energy of the fluid into kinetic energy. According to Bernoulli’s theorem for compressible, high-pressure fluids, the transformation of potential energy to kinetic energy through a restriction is expressed in simplified form as: