Waterjet Machining
Two Cuts
Project Summary
Two items were made from aluminum water jet cut pieces. The monogram was designed as the personal piece, while the second item was designed as a test piece for bulkhead fabrication, which would allow evaluating the feasibility of using water jet cutting for manufacturing fuel/oxidizer bulkhead in future.
Piece 01
Monogram
Piece 02 — The Test
Bulkhead
Manufacturing
The items were water jet cut on a ProtoMAX, small-format desktop water jet. The monogram was cut and further sandblasted and powder coated as an additional finishing step. The bulkhead was a feasibility test item; the process of its cutting would allow to evaluate if the same process and machine can provide the required tolerance and surface finish for the bulkhead.
Results
Verified PerformanceMonogram - Complete
The monogram was successfully water jet cut, sand blasted and powder coated; thus, both the cutting process and finishing workflow were evaluated through this project.
Bulkhead - Feasibility Confirmed
It was confirmed that water jet cutting would not be viable to use for fabrication of fuel/oxidizer bulkheads due to the roughness of the outer edge of the cut, which would require additional finishing steps to meet the required tolerance and surface finish for a part bearing pressure.
Lessons Learned
"This same piece of equipment, in cutting a monogram, may be used to cut a bulkhead with the required tolerance because the accuracy of the waterjet will not depend on what it is cutting, but rather how it is set up and programmed."