The basic technology of ultra-high pressure water jet is simple and extremely complex. Simply put, it uses a high-pressure water pump to pressurize the water to a high-speed state, and uses its speed to cut and engrave the workpiece. But in fact, the research is very complicated. After years of development, water cutting has gradually replaced laser cutting and flame cutting in the cutting field due to its excellent cutting performance. The vigorous development of the water processing industry has also brought about the prosperity of related industries. Among them, the abrasive industry is one of them. At present, the abrasive used in water cutting is garnet sand, but there are many natural and artificial abrasives in the abrasive industry. So what are the advantages of garnet sand as water cutting sand?
1. Natural abrasive, rich in minerals, relatively low price
As abrasives, especially consumables, abundant output is one of the necessary factors. Compared with other abrasives, garnet sand is very rich in minerals, and the proven output has reached 250 million tons. On this basis, its price will not be as high as artificial abrasives.
2. The hardness is moderate, and the loss to the sand pipe is relatively small
Garnet is a natural non-metallic abrasive with hardness second only to diamond and corundum, and its tetragonal and octahedral structure makes it have sharp sharp corners, and the cutting ability is stronger when cutting. In terms of hardness, it is larger than quartz sand, which can ensure the cutting speed; but it is smaller than brown corundum and diamond, so the damage to the sand pipe is relatively low. Because the water jet sand tube is also a common consumable for water jet, its life is generally around 200 hours, and the price in China is generally around 600-700. The use of brown corundum will reduce its life to about 170 or even 150 hours, and its cost will be much higher.
3. Polyhedral structure, good cutting effect
This is the most important point, because whether any product can be used or not depends on its effect. Using garnet sand as water cutting sand not only greatly increases the range of water jet cutting, but also the cutting effect is very ideal. For example, the use of garnet sand to cut glass will not explode, and cutting steel plates does not require secondary treatment. This is all due to its polyhedral structure, which enhances the cutting ability of high-speed sanding water flow during cutting.
