Water is able to erode significant amount of land over time.
Every time a wave hits the shores, a small amount of the land erodes into the
ocean. Waterjet cutting can be seen as a similar process but much more
concentrated. High amount of pressure (usually anywhere between 30,000 PSI to
90,000 PSI on a typical waterjet machinery) is applied to the water, which
causes it to shoot as a narrow jet when pushed through a small hole. This
causes the water to hit the material being cut with such tremendous force that
the material basically starts to disintegrate at the point of contact.
As the force of the water is continuously applied to the
material it will eventually make its way through the said material. When you
move the material at the same pace it is being punctured through, it will start
to produce a clean cut. Waterjets are basically amplification of what already
occurs naturally in nature. Even a single drop of water can create a hole on a
rock if enough time passes by. Waterjet produces same results in a much shorter
time span by increasing the pressure. To simply put, higher pressure means less
time required.
When you examine natural erosions, you would see that the
end results are very smooth. When waves hit the rocks by the shores, the rocks
become more smooth and round as time passes. Drops of waters falling on a rock
will also produce a very smooth holes or cuts after decades or even centuries
have passed. Waterjets are able to cut thick slabs of hard materials such as
metal in minutes or even seconds but can be fine adjusted to produce smooth
results.
If precision, accuracy and quality is mission critical for
the fabrication project at hand, waterjets should be a prime candidate among
other cutting methods since the cutting process can be fine tuned to produce
the smoothest results. Fitting two parts together when they have jagged edges
is virtually impossible. When the materials are cut through waterjet, the end
results would so clean that piece will fit together as if they were one.
Waterjets can be seen as the natural way to cutting. While
waterjet cutting process requires high amount of water, the water can be
filtered and reused. This makes waterjet cutting process more greener than some
of its alternatives. Water will also naturally cool the material being cut
during the process, which means that there will be no warping or deterioration
of the material due to excessive heat.
When you cut through a dense wood using high speed saws, you
can often smell burning of the wood. There is no such problem with waterjets
since the material being cut is cooled and protected by splashed water. Metals
tend to be more sensitive to heat. It can warp, bend or even melt if the
temperature gets too hot. Waterjets are able to keep the metals cooled while
being cut, making the two an ideal combination. By using waterjets, you will be
able to achieve great results without compromising quality.