Name : Chamaiporn Panleng ID : 5333852523

Garnet in waterjet cutter

Since ages, nature has proven that even the hardest material change their shape and form when water is applied to them. This phenomenon can create both beautiful and useful structure. Almost the whole surface of our world has been influence by such processes such as the Grand Canyon. In this process of mineral erosion of stones, its not only water that plays an important role, but the implications of mineral particles and air is contribution to this action. The application of pressurized water is introduced, when Californian gold miners used it to remove layers of sand and rock. It had characteristically large flow rates with pressure level reaching a hundred bar which is combination to move the large volumes of mineral. After that, Dr. Norman Franz, a professor at the university of British Columbia, Canada, patented a concept of a water cutting machine with a cutting pressure of 700 bar in 1968. He was the first person who studied the use of ultrahighpressure (UHP) water as a cutting tool that he try to find new ways to slice thick trees into lumber. He also found that high pressure stream of water flow through small pipe will generate tremendous energy that is strong enough to cut material away. Around under 410 MPa of high pressure stream of water moved through small pipe produce stream faster than 3 times of speed of sound in the air. This process is fast enough to cut plastic, wood and rubber. However, Pure water is very well suited for cutting of soft, hard and sensitive materials in a very precise manner. Unfortunately it is not possible to cut very hard materials such as ceramic tiles, steel, glass, or stone. To overcome this shortcoming, Dr. Mohamed Hasish conducted tests with adding hard abrasive particles to the jet which becomes abrasive waterjet cutting. Every cutting method is based on the input of energy into the material, in order to overcome the chemical bindings present in the structure of the material. Thermal cutting methods, for example, utilize the energy of chemical reactions, electricity, or light to produce high temperatures in order to melt the material at the cutting kerf. Mechanical

methods utilize the kinetic energy of the moving tool form ductile materials through the application of pressure. Waterjet Cutting can be classified as a mechanical method. The energy of the rapidly moving jet is utilized either in the form of a pure waterjet or abrasive waterjet and then applied to the workpeice causing microerosion. The cutting water works as a cooling agent of cutting edge, thus allowing for a very high quality cut. The one main component, which is without any doubt always necessary to create waterjet, is the high pressure pump. Garnet abrasive waterjet cutting is used for hard materials such as metals, glass, stone, concrete, glass composites, ceramics and hard materials like aluminum oxide and silicon oxide. In addition to supply of high pressure water, a sand feeding system and head, or orifice, are required where the mixing of the water and sand occurs. Normally, orifice made from hard materials and resistance to erosion such as diamond, sapphire, and ruby depending on required quality, cost, and useful life. Diamond orifice is the most expensive one, but it has the longest useful life. After the high pressure water passes through the water orifice, it flows into the mixing chamber. Because of the high velocity, the jet causes a vacuum, thus sucking in the mixture of air and garnet sand through the entry port. The garnet quality is controlled by the abrasive feeder. In order to bring the garnet into aligment, a focusing tube with a conically shaped inlet of 3 times the diameter of the water orifice is required. Momentum of the water stream accelerates and entrains abrasive as it passes through the nozzle. The stream exits the nozzle as a three phase mixture of air, water and abrasive particles with a cutting diameter of 0.020 to 0.060. Even small geometrical variances have an impact on the cutting parameters. The high velocity abrasive particles impact on the kerf face and do the actual cutting. Kerf material is removed as microchips, with no negligible affects on the material. In most cases, Garnet sand is used as abrasive. This natural minarals is mined and can be purchased at relatively reasonable prices. One garnet abrasive cutting head requires 250-600 g abrasive per minute. A major advantage of garnet abrasive waterjet technology is its ability to cut virtually any material. Another advantage is that it doesn't superheat the area adjacent to the cut, so the material integrity is left intact. This is important in many types of metals that could be compromised due to

additional heat. Garnet abrasive waterjet is considered as green technology. Waterjets produce no hazardous waste, reducing waste disposal costs. They can cut off large pieces of reusable scrap material that might have been lost using traditional cutting methods. Parts can be closely nested to maximize material use, and the waterjet saves material by creating very little kerf. Waterjets use very little water, and the water that is used can be recycled using a closed-looped system. The garnet abrasive is a non-toxic natural substance that can be recycled for repeated use or can be used in construction applications. Waterjets also eliminate airborne dust particles, smoke, fumes, and contaminants from cutting materials such as asbestos and fiberglass. The accuracy of the process is acceptable for all but the most precise cuts, and the purchase price and maintenance costs of the machine are comparatively low. On the other hand, Garnet abrasive waterjet cutting technology cuts slower than pure water cutting and plasma cutting process, reducing material processing productivity. The speeds are in the hundreds of mm/min and in many cases even less, depending on the material, thickness, and required surface quality. Additionally, Garnet abrasive waterjet technology has a higher entry cost than the plasma cutting machines and the abrasive material used for cutting harder materials tends to be quite expensive. Garnet abrasive waterjet cutting differs from pure waterjet cutting in just a few ways. In pure waterjet cutting, the supersonic stream erodes the material. In the Garnet abrasive waterjet, the waterjet stream accelerating abrasive particles and those particles erodes the material. The abrasive waterjet is much more powerful than a pure waterjet and is capable of cutting hard materials such as metals, glass, stone, and composites that none of which can be cut with a pure waterjet. To sum up, garnet abrasive waterjet cutter is a tool capable of slicing into metal using a jet of mixture of water and an abrasive substance which is garnet sand at high velocity and pressure. The process is essentially the same as water erosion found in nature but accelerated and concentrated by orders of magnitude. It is often used during fabrication or manufacture of parts for machinery and other devices. It has found applications in a diverse number of industries from mining to aerospace where it is used for operations such as cutting, shaping, carving, and reaming.