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Water Jet Cutting Terms

Abrasive Flow Rate – Rate that an abrasive material streams into the cutting head.
 
Abrasive Substances – What an abrasive waterjet cutting machine uses to cut. These are typically garnet or substances similar to sand.
 
Attenuator – This pressurized vessel sustains output pressure for a continuous flow of water, accommodating for irregular pressure produced by some pumps.
 
Bridge/Bridging – When parts are connected together with a narrow piece of metal while cutting to avoid falling into the catch tank. Once the cutting process is done, the connecting pieces are removed.
 
Catch Tank – A tank of water below the cutting head that disperses the water from the cutting beams and prevents holes in the floor. The tank also collects used abrasive.
 
Common Line Cutting – A method of cutting used when multiple parts are being cut at once. This technique saves time, but it is hard to program, and the cuts are not as precise as they would be if the parts were cut separately.
 
Crankshaft Pump – A pump in which plungers driven by a crankshaft create the pressure needed.
 
Cutting Index/Machineability – A quantitative value representing how easy it is for an abrasive jet or waterjet to cut a particular material.
 
Cutting Model – A model of the way a waterjet will cut, used to predict when to slow down and how to compensate for using a “floppy tool.”
 
Draft Angle – The angle resulting from taper.
 
Dynamic Pierce – A way of piercing the material by permitting the jet to initiate travel along the part path.
 
Etch – Creating marks on the material without completely cutting through it, done with the reduction of pressure and abrasive flow rate.
 
Feed Rate – The speed of the cutting head movement.
 
Focusing/Mixing Tube – A tube of hardened material that directs the water and abrasive substance into a coherent cutting beam.
 
Frosting/Hazing – Stray abrasive particles that cause a “frosting” effect on the material being cut. This usually occurs at the edge of a cut, or in a rounded pattern around a pierce point.
 
Garnet – The most common abrasive material in abrasive waterjets, able to cut many different materials, and soft enough to maintain a long life for the mixing tube.
 
Hard Limit – A limit on the waterjet machine that prevents it from moving in a particular direction or beyond its physical limits.
 
Hard Water – Water that has a large number of dissolved minerals, typically calcium and magnesium. Hard water tends to leave behind deposits of the dissolved minerals, which necessitates regular clean-up or replacement of jewels, pipes and filters.
 
Intensifier – A high-pressure pump that uses hydraulics to create extremely high pressure.
 
Jet Lag – A term for the lag in the spot where the jet exits the material to the spot where it entered the material.
 
Jewel – The aptly named aperture that the water exits to create the cutting stream, usually made of ruby, diamond or sapphire.
 
Kerf – The cutting beam width of the waterjet stream.
 
Kick Back – A term for what the jet head does as the cutting machine accelerates away from a corner that has just been cut.
 
Mesh – A measure of the degree of coarseness of the abrasive.
 
Muff – A brush or sponge around the tip of the nozzle that is used to prevent splashing
 
Nozzle – Includes the focusing/mixing tube, jewel, nozzle body and sometimes the plumbing of a waterjet.
 
Pierce – The process of drilling a hole through the material using waterjets.
 
Reverse Osmosis – A method for filtering water, used in waterjet cutting.
 
Slat – A prop for the material as it is being cut, typically disposable.
 
Soft Limit – A way of using software to program the boundaries in which a water jet can move. The soft limit is used to define the area the head can move in so it does not collide into anything nearby.
 
Splash Back – A common occurrence during piercing. This is the mess that results from the jet of water splashing off the slat, or when the piercing does not go all the way through the material.
 
Stationary Pierce – A slow method of piercing used for thin materials and very small holes. The water jet stays stationary in one position until the material is cut.
 
Striation Marks – Marks caused by the wiggling movements of the water jet machine. The quicker the cut, the more striation occurs.
 
Super-Water® – A chemical additive that enables waterjet machines to increase cutting speed, focus the cutting stream and reduce wear of high-pressure components.  
 
Tab/Tabbing – A procedure for keeping parts in place by leaving a small piece of material attached to the original piece from which the material was cut. This prevents the material from falling into the tank or from tipping and colliding with the nozzle.  
 
Taper – The amount of difference between the top and bottom profiles of the cut.
 
Tool Offset – The necessity of slightly offsetting the tool from the cutting line, because of the width of the waterjet.
 
Traverse – Any movement of the machine’s head without cutting anything, such as moving it into a cutting position
 
Velocity – A measure of motion relative to time, generally expressed in feet per second. Velocity expresses the amount of space passed over by a moving body in a certain period of time.
 
Weep Hole – A small hole drilled into the side of the high pressure fittings that allows water to escape safely if there is a leak.
 
Wiggle Pierce – A method of cutting where the water jet wiggles back and forth as it cuts. This method is faster than a typical clean cut.