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water jet can cut metal

 pressurized water can cut metals — when it is used in a water jet cutter, often combined with an abrasive material like garnet.


Water jet cutter (head): 1 - high-pressure water inlet, 2 - jewel (ruby or diamond), 3 - abrasive (garnet), 4 - mixing tube, 5 - guard, 6 - cutting water jet, 7 - cut material


🔧 How It Works (Water Jet Cutting):

  1. High Pressure

    • Water is pressurized to 30,000–90,000 psi (pounds per square inch).

    • For comparison, a car tire has about 30–35 psi.

  2. Tiny Nozzle

    • Water exits through a very fine nozzle (0.1–0.4 mm), focusing all that pressure into a sharp stream.

  3. Abrasive Additive (for metals)

    • For soft materials like rubber or wood, water alone is enough.

    • For metals, abrasive particles (usually garnet sand) are mixed in the stream.

    • These hard particles erode the metal surface, enabling cutting.

  4. Cutting Action

    • The focused jet, moving at nearly 3 times the speed of sound, cuts cleanly through steel, titanium, aluminum, and more.

🧱 What Can It Cut?

Material Can Pure Water Cut It? Needs Abrasive?
Rubber ✅ Yes ❌ No
Wood ✅ Yes ❌ No
Glass ❌ No ✅ Yes
Steel ❌ No ✅ Yes
Titanium ❌ No ✅ Yes
Stone/Granite ❌ No ✅ Yes

⚙️ Advantages of Water Jet Cutting:

  • No heat (so metals don’t warp or lose temper)

  • Very precise (~0.1 mm accuracy)

  • Can cut any shape

  • Eco-friendly (uses water and natural abrasive)

📌 Fun Fact:

  • Water jet cutters are used in aerospace, automotive, and even food industry (pure water jets cut cake or frozen meat!).