What is waterjet cutting?

In WAIS, water flows under very high pressure through the nozzle in the cutting head of the system. The abrasive is sucked out of the mixing chamber by negative pressure (“Venturi principle”). This results in an air content of around 95 percent by volume, which leads to turbulent mixing losses and reduces the overall efficiency of the cutting jet by around one third. In ANT WAS systems, on the other hand, part of the pressurised water flows via a bypass valve into the Abrasive Mixing Unit (AMU). There, water and cutting agent form a suspension. The water abrasive suspension is directed and forced through the cutting nozzle via a high-pressure hose. The potential energy of the pressure is converted in the nozzle into a cutting jet that emerges at almost twice the speed of sound. The result is a two-phase jet consisting of approximately 97.5 percent water by volume and 2.5 percent abrasive by volume. Since the abrasive particles in WAS systems are directly bound in the water, the ANT suspension jet is significantly more stable, precise and powerful than the injection jet, as well as free of air. Due to the special ANT nozzle geometry, WAS systems do not require high pressure and save resources.