Water Jet Cutters – 3X The Speed Of Sound! Cuts BMW’s.

Dec
27
2013

A286 specification AMS 5737, a hardenable iron base superalloy, is perfect for applications requiring high strength such as water jet cutters.

Water jets are used to cut a wide variety of materials, from granite counter tops, to the steel fender of a custom motorcycle, and even the new BMW i3’s as seen in the video below.

Regular tap water is essentially turned into a laser after being mixed with an abrasive substance and being concentrated through an extremely narrow nozzle. The effect of the nozzle is similar to you putting your thumb over a hose to increase water pressure. However, unlike your regular water hose, water jet nozzles are equipped with a gemstone so they won’t be shredded by the unbelievable water pressure.

© Flickr/cogdogblog

© Flickr/cogdogblog

How Much Pressure Are We Talking About?

  • Home water pressure is approximately 70 pounds per square inch (70 PSI).
  • Water Jet Pressure can reach upwards of 90,000 PSI!
  • Amazingly, a 60,000 PSI water jet is traveling at 3 times the speed of sound and is equivalent to about 200 times more pressure than a fire hose.
  • 60,000 PSI is also more than 900 MPH.

The videos below demonstrate water jets working on a BMW i3.

Marshall Smith

Technology, engineering, and design enthusiast.

LinkedIn Google+ 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *