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WATER JET CONFERENCE - Waterjet Technology Association

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Because of the shielding provided by the multiple waterjets, a tungsten carbide nozzle<br />

cone can last more than a day's operation without affecting the level of negative pressure inside<br />

the mixing cavity or the performance of abrasive waterjet. Fluidyne termed the<br />

abrasive-entrained waterjet generated by it patent-pending nozzles the Abrasion Jet to denote the<br />

abrasions and erosion actions involved in cutting materials.<br />

The multiple waterjets are currently arranged in two basic configurations parallel or<br />

converged. Thus, the diameter of the resultant abrasive waterjet can be changed to suit the<br />

applications. Since the orifice cone is interchangeable, the same nozzle body can be used for a<br />

wide range of water pressure and flow rate, and a wide variety of abrasive powder or slurry. In<br />

this project, testing of both parallel- and converged-jet configurations was planned but only a<br />

5-parallel-jet nozzle was actually tested over a range of parameters during the time period. The<br />

testing of several other jet configurations was curtailed.<br />

Experimental Setup<br />

The test equipment consist of a water pump system, an abrasive feed system, a water<br />

supply system, and a nozzle traverse system. A triplex crankshaft pump powered by a 60-hp<br />

motor was used to supply the water at a peak pressure of 17,000 psi. The abrasive feed system is<br />

simply a tank-valve-hose arrangement in which the abrasive gravity flow is controlled with an<br />

interchangeable orifice. A plastic hose connects the abrasive tank to the nozzle. The water supply<br />

system consists of a solenoid valve, 100-micron filter cartridges, an in-line flow meter, a<br />

40-gallon surge tank and necessary hoses. The linear nozzle traverse movement is provided by a<br />

gear motor-drive screw-sliding rods arrangement; the nozzle traverse speed could be adjusted<br />

from less than 1.0 inch per minute to more than 10 feet per minute.<br />

Abrasives<br />

The abrasives used in this project were mostly Idaho garnet of several grit sizes. Some<br />

Texas "Green Diamond" abrasives and copper slag were also tested briefly for comparison. The<br />

testing of other types of abrasives was planned but not carried out. The abrasive feed rate was<br />

measured during each run of linear cutting by pre-weighing a given amount of selected abrasives<br />

that was subsequently poured into the tank and sucked to the nozzle. The time involved in<br />

consuming this amount of abrasives was recorded with a stopwatch. Dividing the weight of<br />

abrasives by the time yields the abrasive feed rate for that particular run. Accurate measurement<br />

of abrasive feed rate is difficult as it is affected by several factors; further discussion on this<br />

subject will follow.<br />

Rock Specimens<br />

A variety of rock specimens were procured for this project from local sources. The<br />

collection included soft sandstone, slate, hard sandstone, gray granite, quartz marble, rhyolite,<br />

quartzite and basalt. Two types of cast concrete specimens of 6,000-psi minimum compressive<br />

strength were also available for comparison; one has crushed Georgian granite aggregates and<br />

the other has small very hard igneous pebble aggregates. The properties of the collected rock<br />

specimens are not known. However, straight waterjet was applied during the testing to provide<br />

clue for the hardness of the rock involved.<br />

440

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