WATERJET TECHNOLOGIES
downtime drastically cuts into the bottom line. “Customers are putting a bigger and bigger premium on uptime,” said Mike Ruppenthal, vice president, sales, for waterjet builder OMAX Corp. (Kent, WA). “Waterjets are becoming more of a mature technology, and machine downtimes are fewer and farther apart.” More reliable waterjet pumps play a big part in reliability, and Ruppenthal said that OMAX’s EnduroMax pump is in its fi fth generation. The pumps, which previously had a 500- hour maintenance interval, now don’t require maintenance service until the 1000-hour mark. “Waterjet cutting was an immature technology for a long time, and as with the fi rst HD TV or the fi rst electric car, the guy that bought those is going to understand there may be some problems,” Ruppenthal said. “Today, custom- ers aren’t willing to put up with problems. We put a lot of emphasis on that.” Visitors to this month’s FABTECH show in Chicago will see an OMAX 6120 waterjet machine equipped with a rotary axis, which makes it a six-axis system, Ruppenthal added,
with maintenance,” she said. “They want a system with the longest maintenance interval possible, and a system that is easy to maintain so when it does require work, they experi- ence minimal downtime. Ease of use is another really impor- tant feature for users today since it’s getting so hard to fi nd experienced operators. They want a system that is intuitive to learn and use.” At FABTECH, Hypertherm plans to introduce two new waterjet systems that Mancell said are designed to signifi - cantly reduce waterjet operating costs by delivering marked labor and consumable savings for companies operating the waterjet machines.
Capable of cutting a wide range of materials, waterjets are used to cut foam packing materials for the packaging industry.
plus the company’s 100-hp (74.6-kW) pump introduced last year at IMTS and other new waterjet innovations. Besides demanding excellent cutting capabilities, abrasive waterjet users are increasingly looking at the overall operating cost of a system, said Sara Mancell, HyPrecision Water- jet team leader, Hypertherm Inc. (Hanover, NH). “Speed, effi ciency, abrasive and water usage all come into play along
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AdvancedManufacturing.org | November 2015
Versatility Helps Waterjets Expand The breadth of applications found for waterjets is ex- panding due to the many advantages of waterjet machining processes. “Waterjet cutting is found in all sorts of cutting applications from harder materials such as stainless steel, aluminum and granite, to softer materials like rubber, plastic and food,” Mancell said. “In the automotive industry, waterjet is used to cut headliners and panels for cars and trucks. Waterjet is used in building construction to cut out the sink and fi xture holes in granite and stone for countertops. In the food industry, water- jet is used to chop leafy vegetables and cut the hulls off of strawberries in preparation for freezing.” While predominantly used by job shops and fabrication facilities, the fl exibility of waterjets has made it an attractive option for other industries. “We’re seeing other industries adopt- ing it, for things like elevator interiors, where they use a variety of materials,” said OMAX’s Ruppenthal. “Another application is a company that makes cooling equipment for data centers for cloud computing, and lately glass has
become of interest, with companies in the Northeast working in architectural and scientifi c markets using industrial glass for telescopes and electronics.” Another interesting use of waterjets beyond discrete manufacturing is in the packaging industry for packing ma- terials, said Jeff Schibley, Great Lakes regional manager for waterjet developer Jet Edge Inc. (St. Michael, MN). “We’ve
Photo courtesy Hypertherm Inc.
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