PRECISION COMPONENTS

WATERJET CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

A premier supplier to the aerospace industry of highly-engineered precision formed, precision machined and fabricated products was adding precision waterjet cutting to their Waterjet Center of Excellence Operations.  The Company needed to cut dense specialty materials that are prevalent in the aerospace industries with high precision.  The test part given to Jet Edge, incorporated 7,734 small hexagonal cuts, on a contoured Inconel sheet with .003” tolerance.

The machine specifications included:

  • A 6’ x 6’ cutting envelope with a high rail gantry
  • A 5-axis cutting head with 12” of z travel height controlled by a servo motor for cutting contoured parts.
  • 60k psi of cutting pressure with a 100hp drive system.
  • The dual intensifiers had to be redundant so the machine could continue to run if one intensifier were brought off-line for service.
  • An abrasive removal system was incorporated along with a Closed Loop Filtration System that allows water to be recycled versus dumped down a drain as wastewater.
  • A capital expenditure price that met the ROI goals.
  • An absolute commitment to ensure this equipment would perform as required post installation.

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THIS CASE STUDY

Aerospace Waterjet Bed - Jet Edge Waterjet Systems

The high rail motion system included a single 5-axis cutting head, with 12” of z travel. The specialty designed catcher tank needed to have two zones, one of which allowed a custom fixture to be mounted and the water level raised for under water cutting. A sweeper package is installed for abrasive removal.

Jet Edge Solution: Since precision is the highest denominator in aerospace production, we felt the high rail system delivered the required accuracy.  The 5-axis cutting head was required for the contoured cutting and with the larger cutting envelope larger parts can be cut at table height.  Jet Edge had to draw upon its experience of complex programming to make this project a success though.  The first file had to be sliced and then modeled into a seamless program with over 160,000 lines of code.  Our applications experts managed this project from start to finish working in concert with the Customer’s team.  A 60K PSI, 100HP Intensifier pump has plenty of horsepower for this aggressive cutting, but a redundant intensifier was incorporated as a backstop to ensure cutting can continue if one of the intensifiers comes offline for servicing.

“WE WERE NERVOUS IN CHOOSING ANY EQUIPMENT PARTNER TO SAY THE LEAST. THE FIRST COMPONENT WE PARTNERED WITH JET EDGE ON WAS COMPLEX AND HAD A 40 HOUR CYCLE TIME. IMAGINE LOSING A PART AFTER 38 HOURS! OUR ENGINEERS AND QUALITY TEAM WORKED CLOSELY WITH JET EDGE. WE KNOW WE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE!”

A number of the parts that are produced have specialty fixtures for hold down and orientation.  Jet Edge designed a catcher tank that allows those fixtures to be secured to the tank sides and incorporates a bladder for water level control.  The water level can be raised and lowered 6 inches and the part submerged for quieter operation.  Finally, this Aerospace Supplier is committed to the environment and specified a garnet removal and closed loop water recycling system so spent water is reused rather than dumped down the drain.

Jet Edge Team Photo Partners in Aerospace Case Study - Jet Edge Waterjet Systems

The Jet Edge X-HR 6’ x 6’ High Rail Motion System includes a single 5-axis cutting head with a 12” Z travel with height controlled by a servo motor for contour cutting. The motion system utilizes a Jet Edge IP-60 100HP UHP Pump with redundant intensifiers so cutting can continue when an intensifier is taken off-line. It takes a committed team effort to meet these requirements!

The 6’ x 6′ High Rail Motion System is a workhorse, designed to provide years of precision cutting.  Its sturdy design separates the motion system from the catcher tank, eliminating vibration and ensuring maximum part quality.

We think the customer made the right choice to go with Jet Edge…but more importantly, so do they!