Suspended abrasive waterjet hole drilling system and method
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorFrederick R. Joslin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A suspended abrasive waterjet narrow kerf cutting method is reconfigured to simultaneously drill multiple, closely-spaced holes in a target, including holes in confined non line-of-sight locations. Working fluid nozzles can be located on a flat or non-flat tool surface and arranged in uniform or non-uniform patterns, in an angled or perpendicular orientation, and in parallel or non-parallel arrangements. Individual nozzles or nozzle groups can be easily changed to provide increased or diminished working diameters, allowing control over the hole sizes and resultant airflow thru the drilled workpiece.
Claims25
A hole drilling method, comprising:
- combining water, abrasive particles, and a viscosity-enhancing material to form an abrasive suspension working fluid;
- pressurizing the working fluid;
- expelling the pressurized working fluid simultaneously through a plurality of nozzles to produce a plurality of high velocity coherent fluid jets;
- and
- impinging the plurality of fluid jets simultaneously onto a plurality of target locations for a sustained time period until the fluid jets break through the target locations to form a plurality of holes.
A jet head for a hole drilling system, comprising:
- a block having a plurality of conduits;
- a plurality of nozzles disposed in the plurality of conduits;
- and
- a plenum to fluidically couple the plurality of nozzles to a feed tube to distribute fluid from the feed tube to said plurality of nozzles, and wherein said plurality of nozzles being positioned to form a plurality of distinct and separate holes in a work piece.
A hole drilling system, comprising:
- a pressure vessel having an isolator that separates the pressure vessel into a control fluid chamber that houses a control fluid and a working fluid chamber that houses an abrasive suspension working fluid containing water, abrasive particles, and a viscosity-enhancing material;
- a pressure source that pressurizes the control fluid in the pressure vessel to force the working fluid out of the pressure vessel;
- and
- a jet head having a plurality of nozzles that expel the working fluid to produce a plurality of high velocity coherent fluid jets that simultaneously impinge a plurality of target locations for a sustained time period until the plurality of fluid jets break through the target location to form a plurality of holes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.