November 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 67

Waterjet Technology

Abrasive waterjet technologies

continue to advance with steadily

improving speed and precision,

cutting an extremely diverse range

of materials. Today’s abrasive wa-

terjet machines are used to quickly

and accurately cut a wide range of parts ranging from

large aerospace and automotive metal components to

stone and granite as well as smaller parts with tiny fea-

ture sizes used in tools, implants and medical devices.

The Hypertherm

HyPrecision waterjet

machines feature

the company’s

easy-to-use ProNest

software solution.

Pumping Up Productivity with Waterjet Machining

The latest abrasive waterjet machines add more power, better programming solutions to help speed machine shop efficiencies

Patrick WaurzyniakSenior Editor

Photo courtesy Hypertherm Inc.

Waterjet technology choices include

waterjet machines cutting with water

only, which are used for cutting soft

materials like rubber, foam, plastics and

composites, and abrasive waterjets,

which add grit from garnet or other

abrasives that enable the water stream

to slice through the hardest of metals

and other materials. Waterjets can cut

workpieces up to 20" (0.5-m) thick with

high precision, holding tolerances of

+/-0.001" to 0.005" (0.025–0.127 mm).

Waterjet cutting processes also have no

heat-affected zone (HAZ), leaving no re-

cast layer on heat-sensitive components.

More Pump Power

At IMTS, waterjet builders show-

cased a host of innovations including

more powerful pumps, or intensifiers, that add more oomph to

the latest waterjets’ cutting action. Many waterjet companies

also showcased enhanced software offerings that can make a

waterjet operator’s life easier with new 3D CAM systems that

enable faster 2D and 3D parts programming.

With the new EnduroMax 100-hp (75-kW) pump from

OMAX, waterjet operators get a more powerful waterjet stream

without compromising part quality due to pressure variations.

“What we’ve done is put together two triplex pumps—

that’s a three-cylinder pump—so we have six cylinders and

we have them timed with each other so that you get six

output pulses per revolution, instead of just three with a single

crankcase,” said John Olsen, co-founder and vice president,

Operations, OMAX Corp. (Kent, WA). “They’re timed every 60°

so it makes a very, very smooth pressure output, and that has

a good advantage for doing precision work because it makes

no marks on the part at all due to pressure pulsations.”

This pump design, which like all OMAX pumps is a

direct-drive pump, is less susceptible to dips in pressure than

hydraulic pumps. “If you compare it with say a hydraulically

driven pump that puts out one or two big pressure dips every

second—it will dip maybe 2000-5000 psi [13.8-36 MPa] and

you’ll get little marks on the edge of the part,” Olsen added,

“whereas this one is very high frequency and has a much

lower dip than 5000 psi. OMAX has always used direct-drive

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68 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | November 2014

Waterjet Technology

At C&R Manufacturing, operator Bryan Tyree measures a part cut on a compact

Techni Waterjet machining system.

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ater

jet

this 100-hp motor, we can put out to the nozzle the same pow-

er that you could with a 135-hp [101-kW] intensifier motor.”

An expanded line of Quantum electric servo pumps from

Techni Waterjet (Lenexa, KS) offers waterjet users more

power in a small footprint. The new compact Quantum VP

15/52 and VP 20/60 models feature an intensifier pump with

lower stroke noise at 68 decibels versus competing solu-

tions typically rated at 80 decibels, said Techni Waterjet’s Jill

Purcell. The new line is quieter, less expensive, and more

efficient, she said. “It offers the smallest footprint in the

industry, and if you’re going into a job shop, these people

don’t have a lot of space,” Purcell added. “These machines

are also environmentally friendly, with less consumption of

power and water.”

Programming Pushes Productivity

For most shops, making manufacturing processes more

productive is by far the top priority. At IMTS, many waterjet

builders demonstrated how easily waterjets can be pro-

grammed with the latest crop of CAD/CAM solutions. Lower

cost of ownership is another common request.

“They want to cut fast and when they go down, they want to get up quickly.”

“We see productivity as the ultimate driver,” said Sara

Mancell, product marketing manager, Hypertherm Inc.

(Hanover, NH). “The most significant cost is the abrasives

themselves. The pump we make here is from a line of com-

mercially available pumps. The intensifier, the heart of the

system, that’s our design.”

The Hypertherm line of waterjet systems includes pumps

ranging from 15 to 150 hp (11.2–111.9-kW), precision cutting

heads, and abrasive delivery equipment. A supplier of water-

jets, plasma and laser cutting systems, Hyptherm’s waterjets

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feature its Advanced Intensifier Technology

to extend maintenance intervals, reduce

maintenance time and maximize performance.

Hypertherm estimates the total cost of owner-

ship for a HyPrecision system is up to 20%

less than competitive systems, resulting in

increased profitability for customers.

“What they’re most looking for goes back

to the productivity,” Mancell said. “They want

to cut fast and when they go down, they want

to get up quickly.” Hypertherm’s waterjet users

can download apps for step-by-step instruc-

tions for routine maintenance, which is often

done by the customer, she added. “Customers

get comfortable over time with doing that. A

good portion of our customers are job shops.”

New software functionality helps boost

shop productivity, and the company’s ProNest

Waterjet Technology

The Intelli-CAM waterjet cutting software easily generates 3D toolpaths

from imported 3D solid models.

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orp.

software runs on Hypertherm’s EdgePro CNC with adaptive

control on the waterjet machines. “They’re all optimized

to work together, and EdgePro is adapted to the waterjet

process,” she said. Users can import .dxf drawing files and

easily set up the cut quality and edge parameters.

“There’s a lot that can be optimized in ProNest,” Mancell

said. “One of the things in particular is the ability to apply spe-

cific cut quality to specific features on a part. Another feature

that’s nice is the Cut Pro Wizard. The software is where the

magic is.”

Current trends in waterjet machining include more

lights-out metalcutting, remote monitoring and easier-to-use

interfaces, said Nancy Lauseng, marketing manager, Jet Edge

Inc. (St. Michael, MN). “Customers are looking to make their

systems as productive as possible to keep up with increasing

workloads as the economy improves,” Lauseng said. “They

also need the systems to be as easy to use as possible given

the shortage of skilled labor.”

Shops can achieve those goals by using intuitive and easy-

to-use interfaces, advanced software, longer lasting seals—

anything that can make a shop run more efficiently, noted

Lauseng. At IMTS, Jet Edge demonstrated its 90,000 psi

(6200-bar) Edge X-5, a five-axis abrasive waterjet for cutting

precise taper-free parts from virtually any material.

“Software tools are very critical. Our controller HMI software

has open architecture, and is completely written by Jet Edge,

specific to waterjet requirements,” she said, adding that the

open architecture allows programmers or operators complete

access to machine code to fine-tune programs and make small

adjustments. For CAD/CAM and nesting software, most Jet

Edge customers use IGEMS, SigmaNest or Mastercam.

Modeling Waterjet Processes

New software that takes full advantage of the explosion in

the use of 3D models was on display at IMTS, with new 3D

modeling CAM software shown by OMAX and Flow Interna-

tional. These packages allow waterjet users to enhance the

programming process with simplified import and creation of

3D toolpaths for waterjet cutting systems.

Like any other machine tool users, waterjet operators

seek to increase production and lower costs while employing

systems that are easier to use and more reliable, noted Brian

Kent, director, new product development for shape cutting,

Flow International (Kent, WA). “For the waterjet technology

that means continuing to raise the operating pressure [so the

system becomes more efficient], improve machine program-

ming [to expand capabilities and make the system easier

to use], enhance cutting intelligence [to cut more accurate

parts], and evolve the science of ultrahigh-pressure to make

the systems more reliable,” Kent said.

Today’s customers are looking for overall throughput in the

shop, he added. “In the past customers focused on the cycle

time of an individual part, but today’s customers are looking

at the overall cycle time including programming, setup and

secondary operations.”

With the FlowXpert 2015 software released at IMTS, users

of Flow waterjets can leverage fully integrated model-based

CAD/CAM system for waterjets, Kent said. “Software for users

is very critical to the success of the machine and the final

part. The manufacturing world understands today that a

machine that is too hard to program and operate requires an

operator with a skill level that is hard to find today.”

The FlowXpert software enables users to quickly design,

import or modify any model and create a toolpath in the same

software suite. “This eliminates the need to convert models

to flat pattern .dxf files and allows programmers to quickly

create files in their native form. With the CAD/CAM in the

same system programmers can quickly modify geometry and

fix any errors in the file without switching between multiple

programs,” Kent said.

Flow’s software is a full 3D modeling suite powered by 3D

modeling CAD/CAM developer SpaceClaim Corp. (Concord,

MA). With this package, customers do not have

to purchase an additional third-party modeling

software, Kent added.

OMAX waterjet users also have new options

with the new Intelli-CAM 3 software, part of

OMAX’s Intelli-Max software suite, that can quickly

generate a 3D toolpath from 3D solid models.

“The big thing that has been a headache for a lot

of customers is now solved,” said OMAX’s Olsen.

“A lot of our customers are job shops, and today

most design work is done with 3D. People are

using SolidWorks, Inventor and all the really good

3D design programs that are out there, and a thing

that our customers face is their customer will bring

them a USB stick and say, ‘Make this. I want three

of these.’ And on the stick is a 3D model.

“In the past, they have not had any way to open

that 3D model to extract the data that they need in

order to make this flat part that they’re making on

our machine. So we have provided a free upgrade

software that reads anybody’s model.”

“With Intelli-CAM, users can extract the

geometry from that model, and if it happens that

the part is a 3D part that can be made with an abrasive jet

with our five-axis head, then it will also generate a full five-axis

toolpath automatically.”

In July, OMAX and Spatial Systems (Broomfield, CO), a Das-

sault Systèmes’ subsidiary, announced a partnership to incorpo-

rate Spatial’s 3D InterOp technology for importing CAD files from

various sources. The partnership adds this technology for easy-

to-use 3D toolpath creation into the latest Intelli-CAM system.

72 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | November 2014

Waterjet Technology

The new FlowXpert 2015 3D modeling suite, built on SpaceClaim’s solid

modeling software, offers Flow waterjet users an integrated 3D CAD/

CAM solution.

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Flow

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“We’ve been continually improving it. At the earliest

stages, all you could do is extract a 2D path out of it, and now

you can do a lot of 3D pathing as well,” Olsen said. “There

are of course other ways to do it, but they’re not free. We’ve

worked very hard to make it extremely simple to use, so you

don’t have a big learning curve.”

Machining Micro Parts

More refinements to the MicroMax micromachining waterjet

were added at IMTS, as OMAX added a new mini Tilt-A-Jet cut-

ting head for taper-free cutting that is said to nearly quadruple

position accuracy on the micro waterjet. Suitable for prototype

development and production runs, the MicroMax is a highly rigid

machine that features advanced high-precision linear encod-

ers, innovative vibration isolation and intuitive software control

systems to achieve a position repeatability of ±0.0001" (±2.5 μm)

and a positioning accuracy of approximately ±0.0006" (±15 μm).

The MicroMax uses a high-precision 7/15 Mini Maxjet5i

nozzle that features a 0.007" (0.18-mm)

orifice and 0.015" (0.38-mm) mixing-tube

combination for cutting delicate, complex

patterns. With a jet stream carrying an ex-

tremely fine abrasive, the nozzle produces

a kerf as small as 0.015" and the machine

also has advanced pressure controls for

piercing delicate materials. “The features

there are the ability to run a very fine

nozzle with very fine grit,” Olsen said. “When you have very fine

abrasive grit, there are lots of problems on making it flow well and

those have been solved with quite a bit of R&D.” Developed by

Peter Liu, OMAX senior scientist, the MicroMax system has been

improved by the company’s design team, Olsen added.

“The positioning accuracy of that machine is much greater

than the other machines we build, because the small nozzle

is so consistent in its cutting,” he said. “We can do very high-

tolerance small parts with that machine.” The company is

working a lot with a smaller 5/10 orifice/mixing tube combina-

tion (with a 0.005" [0.13-mm] orifice and 0.010" [0.25-mm]

mixing tube) that could further extend the machine’s micro-

machining capabilities.

The micro waterjet could potentially be deployed in many

medical uses. It could be used to create plates used for

mending cracks in skulls, Olsen said. “Eventually, we’d like

to get to the place that we can make stents with it,” he said.

“We’re not there yet, but we think that’s a possibility.” ME

November 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 73

Flow International Corp.Ph: 253-850-3500

Web site: www.flowcorp.com

Hypertherm Inc. Ph: 800-643-0030

Web site: www.hypertherm.com

Jet Edge Inc.Ph: 800-538-3343

Web site: www.jetedge.com

OMAX Corp.Phone: 253-872-2300

Web site: www.omax.com

Techni Waterjet LLCPh: 913-492-3700

Web site: www.techniwaterjet.com

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