Comparison of abrasive water jet technologies in terms of performance and kerf geometry accuracy for cutting ceramics

Hard machining of brittle materials such as ceramics is a process-oriented challenge. For the machining of such materials, abrasive water jet cutting is an appropriate alternative to the commonly used diamond grinding and laser cutting processes. In abrasive water jet machining the injection technology is currently used almost exclusively. Due to the realisation of the suspension jet technology a higher cutting performance can be achieved. In this article, the known injection technology and the suspension technology are compared. To do so, the influences on the quality were examined for trimming technical ceramics. The investigation illustrates that suspension technology trims with a higher accuracy than injection technology in matters of kerf geometry but with a lower material removal rate.