Waterjet Sheet Cutting

Waterjet sheet cutting uses a high-pressure water jet mixed with abrasive particles to cut sheet material.

Waterjet Sheet Cutting uses a high-pressure stream of water (often with abrasive particles) to cut sheet metal. It produces no heat-affected zone and is suitable for materials that cannot be cut with thermal methods.

Waterjet Sheet Cutting is an automatic workstep — it runs automatically after the Sheet node is created during import.

When to use this process

Waterjet Sheet Cutting is available automatically when:

• You import a DXF or GEO file as a sheet metal part
• The material is sensitive to heat (e.g., certain alloys, coated steels, heat-treated parts)
• No heat distortion or heat-affected zone is acceptable
• You are cutting very thick materials where plasma or laser are impractical

See also: Plasma Sheet Cutting and Laser Sheet Cutting.

Editing Waterjet Sheet Cutting Parameters

To change the nesting mode after the node is created, right-click the Waterjet Sheet Cutting node in the Graph View and select Edit Nesting Mode.

Result

After Waterjet Sheet Cutting runs:

• A Sheet Cutting node appears in the Graph View, connected from the Sheet node
• The Tree View shows the cutting parameters and results
• Cut geometry is available as output for the next process

TIP

Waterjet cutting is the only thermal-free cutting method in WSi. Use it when preserving the material's original properties or surface coating is critical.

Parameters

The parameters for this process are configured in the database — see the Sheet cutting page.

Technical Background

Waterjet cutting uses ultra-high-pressure water — typically generated at 380–600 MPa (55,000–87,000 psi) — forced through a tiny orifice, usually 0.1–0.4 mm in diameter. The water exits the orifice as a high-velocity stream traveling at up to Mach 3 (roughly 900 m/s).

Pure waterjet, using only the high-pressure water stream, can cut soft materials such as rubber, foam, food products, and gaskets. To cut metals, stone, or composites, abrasive particles — most commonly garnet sand — are introduced into the water stream. The abrasive particles are fed from a hopper into a mixing chamber where the high-velocity water accelerates them. It is the abrasive particles, not the water itself, that do the actual material removal through erosion.

Because no heat is involved in the cutting process, waterjet produces no heat-affected zone and no thermal distortion. This makes it ideal for cutting heat-sensitive materials, pre-treated or coated steels, and alloys that would lose their properties if exposed to high temperatures. It is also suitable for materials that would be difficult or impossible to cut with thermal methods, such as glass or certain composites.

The primary consumables in waterjet cutting are the mixing tube and the orifice, both of which wear over time and must be replaced. The cutting speed decreases with material thickness — thicker parts require slower traverse speeds to maintain cut quality. Waterjet can handle almost any material thickness, though very thick sections will trade speed for precision.