Page 29 - MetalForming February 2017

downtime. But reliability has been improved and some fabricators now run them 24/7.”
For Hypertherm’s part, in producing aftermarket waterjet parts, it had noticed that pumps were frequently ordered. So the company decided to concentrate its design improvements in that area.
“Whereas in the past, pump opera- tional costs amounted to $4 to $7/hr.,” Dumas explains, “today, the pumps on our machines, for example, have oper- ational costs of about $1.80/hr. Many intensifier pumps use a low-pressure poppet screw that holds the poppet in. If that comes loose and falls in and hits the plunger, it can cause thousands of dollars in damage. We eliminated that screw on our design, so it can’t fall in and cause problems.”
From a metal-cutting standpoint, waterjets only have been on the scene for about 30 years, notes Caron, but that’s provided time to make vast improvements.
“In the natural progression of tech- nology and equipment,” he explains, “the engineering re-evaluation and improvement process proceeds, and over time it really improves the weak points of a product design, and that is true for waterjet systems.”
Cutting heads offer another example
where cutter performance and relia- bility have improved. Caron and Dumas point to adoption of a diamond centered on the nozzle itself, which has delivered higher tolerances and longer life.
“A diamond can last for 1200 hr. in this application,” says Dumas. “In the past, rubies and sapphires were used, and these lasted anywhere from 5 sec. to 40 hours. They are less expensive, say $15 to $18 for a ruby, but in the long run become much more expensive due to the downtime. If a ruby only lasts for a few seconds and that problem is not caught right away, it will cause problems and the next thing you know, a $200,000 system goes down due to a fragile, inexpensive part. Diamonds offer much more reliability and the industry is moving toward their use.”
Flexibility, Affordability Lead to Increased Use
Waterjet-cutting machines have their place, and increasingly that place has been in fab shops everywhere. Fab- ricators may cut foam one week and stainless steel the next. The versatile machines have proven that they can switch gears in a hurry and cut what- ever is thrown on them. So the machines keep busy, which means
more productivity and more dollars for the flexible fabricator.
“On one end you have laser cutters,” explains Caron, “which cut very fast and are ideal for high-tolerance appli- cations, and at the other end you have waterjet cutters, which do not cut as quickly and offer tolerances that are not as tight, though tighter than plas- ma-cutting machines. But waterjets, as we’ve said, are flexible—able to cut
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