One area that has fascinated substantial attention is applying Waterjet to the production of parts in the “micro” range, that is, parts smaller than 300 microns. Ongoing efforts by Dr. Liu, senior scientist at Omax Corporation, in order to further the development of this process are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Program as well as Omax’s own R&D funds. Thus, an added challenge is developing methods to feed abrasive particles in orders of magnitude finer than is presently feasible. Because the behavior of ultra-fine particles is not fully understood, achieving constant flow rates for steady and predictable cutting quality has been elusive. Despite these challenges, Dr. Liu feels he has made considerable progress in the development of micro-waterjet machining technology. Meanwhile, manufacturers must look closely at Waterjet and think creatively about opportunities it presents for making extremely small parts to high precision.
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