Waterjet Cutting And Hydrobrasive Machining Of

Waterjet cutting and hydrobrasive machining (pure water with abrasive added) of aerospace components and other composites started in 1971 and has developed into the fastest-growing, nontraditional method of cutting and machining today. The advantages of cutting with pure water or with abrasive added to the water is the lower cost per part manufactured. The speed of cut with hydrobrasive machining in boron/aluminum, sic/aluminum, sic/titanium, sic/titanium aluminides, graphites, graphite/epoxies, matrix composites, and super plastics is much faster and less expensive than traditional contact methods per finished part. When manufacturing aerospace composite parts, waterjet cutting and hydrobrasive machining have become the primary way to be cost-competitive.