Cleaner Production Solutions For Abrasive Waterjet Cutting System

Abstract

Waterjet technology is one of the fastest-growing machining processes used for cutting metal to depths over 100 mm. It is used in a wide range of industries from automotive and aerospace to medical and food industries. The impact of the water alone is enough to machine material, however, with the addition of abrasive, the material removal rate in the process is several orders of magnitude higher. Therefore abrasıve waterjet cuttıng system (AWJC) was developed for better performance. In the AWJC, an abrasive material is used in the cutting process to increase cutting efficiency for harder materials. The abrasive material is mixed with water. Mixing means gradual entrainment of abrasive particles within the water jet and finally, the abrasive water jet comes out of the focusing tube or the nozzle. During the mixing process, the abrasive particles are gradually accelerated due to the transfer of momentum from the water phase to the abrasive phase and when the jet finally leaves the focusing tube, both phases, water and abrasive, are assumed to be at the same velocity. Consumables in this process include water, abrasive, orifice, and mixing tubes. The cutting head is the main part of the machine where cutting occurs. In this study, a company using the AWJC system was visited and environmental problems with wastewater handling, abrasive material sludge, and waste cut materials were detected. To solve these problems, three applicable cleaner production solutions have been offered such as recycling of abrasive material, recycling of water, and good housekeeping applications.