In nature, the power of water, in the form of erosion, has been active for millions of years...
The first industrial use of water jets was seen over 100 years ago in the mining of gravel and clay deposits; fledgling technology which was refined by the American and Russian engineers in the 1930's - who used high speed jets for the removal of rocks, minerals and coal. Development of high-pressure water jet cutting continued throughout the mid 20th century. However, the main impetus for use of this technique, as a manufacturing tool, arose at the end of the 1960's, within aircraft construction and the aerospace industries.
The introduction of high performance composite, laminated and honeycombed materials used in military and civil aircraft applications require equally advanced production processes. Traditional mechanical cutting methods such as cropping and welding destroy the structural integrity of such materials. Likewise, existing thermal processes such as laser or plasma cutting deform the edges of cut composites – and can also create stress, microfissures and structural changes..
The inherent advantages of water jet cutting were considered ideal for use in these manufacturing processes. The cold cutting method not only maintains the structural integrity of the material but does so without contamination of gasses and pollutants. In addition the hair thin water jet not only avoids direct surface pressure on the material but is the most effective way of cutting complex shapes to the highest tolerances.
Water Jet Sweden machines are capable of cutting virtually any sheet or plate material to extremely small tolerances, up to a maximum of 300mm thick. Our machines come equipped with the facility to cut with either abrasive or a pure water head with a minimum re-tooling requirement so that you can switch between different applications with ease.
- Abrasive Cutting
- Abrasive water jet cutting uses an ultra high pressure jet of water that is mixed with abrasive garnet to create a precise cutting tool. When cutting most materials, such as steel through to titanium, it is the abrasive that acts as the major component in the cutting process.
- Finecut Abrasive Cutting
- Finecut abrasive cutting is our new waterjet cutting technology. It is designed to be a compact, clean and fully integrated micro system which allows you to enter new waterjet cutting sectors.
- Pure Water Cutting
- Pure water jet cutting applications, on softer materials, use only a high pressure jet stream of water to cut. As there is no abrasive garnet required for this process, it is only used on non-metallic materials, foam, rubber and some plastics.
- 3D Cutting
- We offer two systems for the process of 3D cutting. Our fully 5 axis machine has the capability to cut with either abrasive or pure water. We also offer our exclusive Beveljet feature on standard machines. This can be fitted on one or two heads and can cut in 5 axis mode up to a maximum of 45˚.
