PROCESS EQUIPMENT


Environmentally Friendly Waterjet Cutting at 6.200 bar


KMT WATERJET – known as the global pioneer in waterjet cutting, KMT WATERJET has enhanced this technology for reliability and durability. Their 6.200 bar cutting meets modern standards for environmentally friendly production.


Since 4.000 bar / 60,000 psi waterjet cutting became standard in the 1990s, KMT WATERJET has continuously been improving associated high-pressure components through design changes, new materials, and modern production technologies. This had led to significant reliability improvements of waterjet cutting systems in use today.


On their path of optimization, the engineers were increasingly concerned with a new question: What results would be achieved if the technical possibilities were available to increase the maximum pressure of a conventional waterjet cutting system of 4.000 bar by approx. 50%?


Would all the theoretical assumptions that pressures of up to 6.200 bar / 90,000 psi could achieve significant savings in the production of a workpiece be confirmed? (vs. 4.000 bar)


These are the results for each part produced at 6.200 bar: • Reduction in production time • Reduction in abrasive consumption • Reduction in the electrical energy required • Reduction in water consumption


Energy-saving solutions in hydraulically driven intensifier pumps often use rpm-controlled drive concepts. These reduce the motor/pump assembly’s rpm when the cutting head valve is closed, such as during the loading/unloading process or when the cutting head moves to a new position.


That being said, these solutions are limited exclusively to the unproductive idle mode, in which no actual cutting takes place.


KMT WATERJET’s approach, on the other hand, was completely the opposite: The new pump development was to generate savings during the actual cutting process in particular.


According to Bernoulli, the conversion of a water pressure of 4.000 bar releases a jet/kinetic energy of 400 kJ/kg. Accordingly, this energy increases by over 50% to 620 kJ/kg at 6.200 bar.


Especially when cutting hard materials such as metals, stone, ceramics, composite materials, etc., it was obvious that operating pressures of up to 6.200 bar should make a significant difference. Processing these “hard materials”, very fine-grained and sharp-edged abrasive is added to the water jet. These abrasive particles are entrained by the water jet in the mixing chamber (5) of the cutting head and accelerated to its speed in the focusing nozzle (8) in order to remove the material along the desired contour.


By increasing the jet energy by over 50%, each individual abrasive particle is brought to a correspondingly higher energy level. This increase in energy enables more intensive / higher material removal during the actual cutting process.


The resulting higher cutting speeds confirmed the aforementioned goals of optimized and resource-saving material processing per workpiece while simultaneously increasing production capacity.


APRIL 2025 7 8 9 AUTOLINE PRO: 6.200 bar – Abrasive Cutting Head


Not only did the cutting speeds increase by up to 50%, and even more for some materials, but the following effects were also impressive:


1. increase in the possible number of layers for multi-layer cutting 2. less jet overhang along the cutting surface 3. more precise angular accuracy 4. more economical processing of harder materials


5. more precise dimensional and angular accuracy when cutting angled contours using 5-axis guide systems


6. significantly faster piercing into the material


7. shorter distances (ramps) for acceleration and deceleration when changing the contour / direction of the cutting head


8. increase in production capacity without requiring additional space


3 2 4 5 6 1


AUTOLINE PRO 6.200 bar Abrasive Cutting Head


1 Cap 2 Abrasive Feed Liner 3 Handle 4 Diamond Orifice 5 Mixing Chamber 6 Nozzle Body


7 Fixture Screw Focusing Tube


8 Focusing Tube HYPERLIFE


9 Splash Guard


4.000 bar


Kinetic Energy: 400 kJ/kg


6.200 bar


Kinetic Energy: 620 kJ/kg


PER PRODUCED PART:


50%+ MORE CAPACITY + LESS ABRASIVE + LESS ELECTRCITY + LESS WATER


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6.200 bar Waterjet Cutting: Capacity Increase and Resource Savings www.reviewonline.uk.com 9


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