Waterjet Cutting Processes for Various Alloy Grades: Application Guide

2026-01-30

When selecting equipment for cutting specialty metals and alloys, a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors is required. Material types, sheet thickness and post-cut machinability serve as the core criteria for equipment selection.

For titanium alloys, stainless steel and other types of specialty alloys, the importance of the aforementioned selection principles is even more prominent. Given the high cost of such materials, cutting operations must both ensure machining precision and prevent material damage, making the operational requirements more stringent. Enterprises must not incur material loss and suffer unnecessary damage due to heat-induced damage.

What is an alloy?What is an alloy?

An alloy is a metallic substance formed by melting and blending two or more metals (or a metal with non-metals), which can obtain excellent properties unavailable in pure metals through proportion adjustment and is a widely used engineering material in industry.

Why are they difficult to cut?Why are they difficult to cut?

1. Their hardness and strength are far higher than those of the base pure metals, and the hardness of some special alloys is close to or even exceeds that of conventional cutting tools and abrasives.

2. They have good toughness and deformation resistance, prone to plastic deformation during cutting, which makes it hard to form neat cuts and also increases cutting resistance.

3. Some alloys have poor thermal conductivity, causing heat to concentrate easily in the cutting area during the process, leading to local melting and tool adhesion of the material, or overheating and wear of cutting tools.

4. They contain wear-resistant and high-temperature resistant alloying elements, which greatly improve the material's wear resistance and thermal shock resistance and cause extreme abrasion to cutting tools.

Advantages of Using Waterjet Cutters for These MaterialsAdvantages of Using Waterjet Cutters for These MaterialsAdvantages of Using Waterjet Cutters for These Materials

For such metals, waterjet cutters are the ideal cutting tools, boasting distinct advantages over alternative equipment such as laser and plasma cutters:

1. Waterjet cutters can cut alloy plates to a far greater thickness than any other cutting equipment.

2. Adopting a cold cutting process, waterjet cutters prevent material deformation, warping or damage during the cutting operation. These alloy metals are of high value and cost, leaving extremely little room for error in cutting work.

3. Waterjet cutters enable high-precision cutting of complex geometric shapes, requiring virtually no secondary machining after cutting.

4. The cold cutting process feature eliminates the generation of fumes and hazardous vapors during cutting.

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Waterjet cutting equipment is the ideal choice for alloy cutting with a host of superior advantages. There is a wide range of configurations available for waterjet equipment on the market, so it is crucial to match the right configuration to the processed materials.

We recommend that you consult the Sunshine Waterjet Team at once before making your purchasing decision. We will communicate with you one-on-one about the details of your processed materials, customize exclusive waterjet equipment for you, and precisely meet your actual production and processing needs.