Composite materials

Cutting Composites with Waterjet

Today composites come in many forms including carbon fiber reinforce plastic; fiberglass; and composite foams, Kevlar, carbon fiber, glass fiber, non-woven materials, composite resins, etc. An abrasive waterjet’s supersonic erosion can cut nearly any material, and the low contact force eliminates the need for bulky tooling. Modern materials such as carbon fiber composites like GRP (GFRP), CFRP (CRP), and carbon fiber-reinforced carbon (C/C) can be cut without any dust or gas being emitted. The finely focused waterjet beam, cuts reliably and precisely in any direction to incredible detail. Composites made up of a variety of very different materials such as metal and rubber can be cut in one operation. Waterjet cutting will rarely cause cracking, fraying or delamination.

Key Benefits to Cutting Composites with Waterjet

• Increased productivity, fast cutting and high-quality parts
• No delamination, whiskers, or fiber pull during cutting
• Minimal kerf allows incredible detail
• Raw material savings — reduced scrap
• Low operating cost — waterjet orifices and abrasive focusing nozzles require occasional replacement
• Omni-directional cutting, even at tight inside corners
• No need for extensive part clamping, minimal lateral or vertical forces
• Single-pass cutting, depending on material thickness
• No thermal damage
• No dust or vapors are given off
• Net or near-net cutting, little or no hand finishing
• Reduced tooling costs, lighter, flexible tooling

Example applications:

• Vehicle and vehicle supplier industry
• Supportive structures and bodywork/trim parts to reduce weight
• Motorsport
• Bodywork/trim parts made of high-tech materials
• Construction of vessels
• Edge trim, cut-outs
• Model-making