THE WATERJET TECHNOLOGY ADVANTAGE
The Finecut micro abrasive waterjet technology utilizes particle erosion for material removal. The fine thing with erosion is that it works for material removal in virtually all materials! Surfaces produced will be free from adverse mechanical and thermal effects and in general requires no subsequent machining to remove damaged material from the product.
When a fine stream of energized particles strikes the work surface a range of erosion mechanisms are activated and causes material removal. Depending on the target material, the erosion mechanisms that are the efficient in material removal will vary and this is why virtually all materials can be cut. The adaptive cutting process gives unique possibilities to cut combined materials. An example of a difficult combination of materials with disparate properties can be products that combine carbon fibre, titanium and epoxy.
The ability to cut various materials with the same tool setup as described above has a great advantage to user friendliness of the process. Basically, you may get started by running the same process for most cutting applications with only the cutting speed as variable parameter to obtain a cut profile and quality required. Consequently, you can get started quickly producing parts.
The micro abrasive waterjet is a non-thermal cutting process. On a micro scale the erosion mechanisms create momentarily local heat upon contact but the continuous cooling by water will remove the heat and temperatures will cause no thermal effects on the cut surface.
The jet can cut omni-directionally which facilitates cutting highly complex geometries. Our technology cut narrow slits down to 0.2 mm, narrow sections down to 0.1 mm, performs fine piercing for holes or start for contours. Also 3D features are cut with our 5-axis system.
Even if the jet velocity is high the small flows of water gives a very low force from the jet. Consequently, also thin structures can be cut without being affected by the jet forces.
The Finecut WMC500 II uses state-of-the-art technology and innovative solutions to optimize performance. It has a controller that uses nanometer interpolation to ensure smooth motion. The machine design utilizes a direct drive motion system that operates at micrometer precision, built so that the tool motion is mechanically linked to the part being machined. High resolution absolute resolvers and a design for thermo-mechanical robustness promote high precision.