How To Porlong The Service Life Of Waterjet Sand Pipe?

How To Porlong The Service Life Of Waterjet Sand Pipe?

Common causes of wear and tear of Water Jet sand tubes

High abrasive impact wear: The jet environment inside the sand tube is harsh, and the abrasive particles are accelerated to hit the tube wall, causing sliding wear. Therefore, it must be made of high hardness and high wear-resistant materials.
Abrasive quality problems: Using too coarse or impure pomegranate sand will significantly increase the wear of the tube wall. In addition, sand with high dust content is easy to deposit in the tube, causing blockage or local sharp wear.
Water quality reasons: If the cutting water is too dirty or the water quality is hard, the nozzle is easy to be corroded or damaged.
Center deviation: The concentricity of the cutting head and the nozzle is extremely critical. Proper installation and adjustment can avoid this problem.

Effective methods to extend service life
Correct installation and alignment: During installation, it is necessary to ensure that the nozzle and the sand tube are completely coaxially aligned to avoid biased flow impacting the tube wall. Accurately aligning the gem nozzle in the cutting head is essential for efficient cutting and extending the life of the component. The common method during installation is to conduct a test shot after adjustment to ensure that the water column is symmetrical and centered.
Matching nozzles and abrasives: The nozzle aperture, sand tube inner diameter and abrasive particle size should match each other to avoid non-standard combinations that lead to increased wear. Studies have shown that the optimal ratio of nozzle inner diameter to sand tube inner diameter is about 1:3. If a sand tube that does not match the tube diameter is used, even if it can be installed and work, the equipment will find it difficult to meet the technical requirements and its life may be shortened. Therefore, the sand tube model that matches the equipment should be selected according to the rated pressure and cutting requirements of the equipment.
Control cutting parameters: Reasonable setting of cutting pressure, speed and abrasive flow can reduce the burden on the sand tube. Generally speaking, avoiding long-term use of the highest pressure and the coarsest abrasive can extend the life of the pipe fittings. Reducing pressure, increasing working distance or appropriately increasing cutting speed can reduce pipe wall wear. At the same time, it is recommended to use soft water or add corrosion inhibitors when water source conditions permit to reduce water erosion of nozzles and sand tubes.
Reasonable material selection: The sand tube material should have high hardness and high wear resistance. Common sand pipe materials are tungsten steel-based cemented carbide, which is made of tungsten carbide as the main wear-resistant phase and low (≤6%) cobalt bonding phase. Tungsten steel is moderately priced and has good toughness; materials such as boron carbide and ceramics are harder, but more brittle and more expensive. In general, boron carbide sand pipes are superior to conventional cemented carbide in erosion wear tests due to their extremely high hardness, while cemented carbide has less loss under other working conditions due to its high toughness. When purchasing, you can weigh the processing volume and budget: for extremely high precision and life requirements, you can consider boron carbide or high-end composite alloy pipes; for daily large-scale cutting, you can choose durable and cost-effective cemented carbide pipes.
Daily maintenance and inspection: Sand pipes and their sand delivery systems need to be inspected regularly. The surface of the sand pipe should be inspected every day or every shift to observe whether there is obvious wear, scratches, cracks, etc., and at the same time check whether the connecting flanges and joints are loose. The sand supply pipeline and valves must also be kept unobstructed and leak-free. Replace consumables in time: users should regularly replace consumable parts such as nozzles according to the maintenance manual. Similarly, the sand bucket filter, water filter, etc. should be kept clean to prevent impurities from entering the system.
Regularly replace related consumables: In addition to the sand tube body, key consumables in the cutting head assembly (such as gem nozzles, auxiliary seals, filter elements, etc.) should also be replaced regularly. Nozzle wear will cause water flow to diverge, thereby damaging the sand tube; filter blockage will cause impurities to deposit and damage the tube. Therefore, it is recommended to replace the nozzle and filter element according to the operating conditions and the manufacturer's recommended cycle to keep the system in good condition at all times.