News | 2008 News Archive

AASC Installs New Waterjet Cutter

07/20/2008

 

AASC has recently added a Flow Waterjet Cutter. Waterjet cutting is a major machine tooling process created by pressurizing water up to 55,000 pounds per square inch (psi) and forcing it through a nozzle.

Small amounts of abrasive particles such as garnet, are added to the jetstream to create an "abrasive waterjet" which can give any hard material or plate a rough cut prior to final machining. The cutting is achieved through software-controlled, robotic motion systems. With minimal fixturing and devoid of tool changes, the waterjet provides accurate, clean edges that allow for tight nesting and reduced scrap, and also cutting multiple parts in a single pass.

The waterjet cuts with erosion, rather than shearing or heat, which lends incomparable edge quality without creating mechanical or heat-induced stresses. In that sense, raw materials uphold their structural integrity, making the waterjet machine an excellent solution for machining and cutting composite cores, space panels, thin composite laminates, and roughing aluminum at any given shape and dimension.

Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation (AASC) is a full service provider of complex composite and metal bonded structures and assemblies for both military and commercial applications. Based in Stockton, California, AASC is classified as a small business with approximately 240 employees. AASC designs and fabricates critical, lightweight, high-performance, engineered structural assemblies for the aerospace industry. The company is ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100, third party certified and has been in business since 1956. For more information, visit the company’s web site at www.aascworld.com.