Improving the Competitiveness of Abrasive Jet Cutting

Abstract

The need for more effective ways to cut difficult to machine material — super alloys, titanium, metal matrix and other composites, glasses, etc — provided the market pull to establish abrasive jet cutting as a viable technology. After seven years of commercial exploitation some 400 abrasive jet cutting systems are in operation but this is only a small percentage of the potential market. To open up the market, abrasive jet cutting systems must be able to economically carry out a wider range of cutting applications to compete with other power beam cutting technologies — laser, plasma, gas cutting.

This paper outlines the advances needed in abrasive jet technology to:

• increase cutting speed by a factor of three for the same water, abrasive and power use;

• reduce direct operating costs by a factor of two;

• apply abrasive jets in applications requiring the integration of many technologies -robotics, materials handling, sensors, etc;

• reduce the amount of waste produced and improve its treatment for disposal.

The objectives and progress on trans-national research, development and dissemination projects, under the EC BRITE-EURAM and SPRINT programmes and the EUREKA initiative, are given.