Waterjet—An innovative tool for manufacturing

The use of multi-axis waterjet machines as a manufacturing tool is rapidly increasing. A wide range of materials can be machined ranging from carbon fibre composites on the latest aircraft fuselages to difficult to machine exotic alloys and state of the art metal matrix composite materials. This work presents an overview of the range of materials and gives examples of geometries that can now be formed using this technique. The surface finish and processing interaction during machining is also outlined. Cutting, drilling and to a limited extent, milling will be considered.