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Continuous high-speed water jets are presently used in many industrial applications such as cutting of various materials, cleaning and removal of surface layers. However, there is still a need for further research to enhance the performance of pure water jets. An obvious method is to generate water jets at ultra-high pressures (currently up to 700 MPa). An alternate approach is to eliminate the need for such high pressures by pulsing of the jet. This follows from the fact that the impact pressure on a target generated by a slug of water is considerably higher than the stagnation pressure of a corresponding continuous jet. Ultrasonically forced modulation of a continuous stream of water represents the most promising method of pulsed jet generation because of its simplicity and practicality. A pulsed jet is generated by modulating a continuous stream of water by ultrasonic waves. A velocity transformer connected to a piezoelectric transducer is located axially inside a nozzle to induce longitudinal pulsations in the water. An extensive laboratory research program is in progress to understand the basic principles of the process and to optimize the nozzle design for several applications. The results reported in this paper show that the performance of such a pulsed jet is far superior to that of a continuous jet operating at the same parameters. Experimental results obtained with the ultrasonic vibration of a tip situated inside the nozzle indicate that using this technique one can achieve performance of the jet even order of magnitude higher in comparison to continuous jet at the same hydraulic parameters. Performance of ultrasonically modulated jets in cutting of various materials was tested in laboratory conditions. In this paper, results of measurement of dynamic pressure in the nozzle and force effects of modulated jets are presented together with results obtained in cutting of various materials using ultrasonically modulated water jets. The results are compared with those obtained with continuous jets at the same operating parameters. Potential of forced modulation of the jet in applications of cleaning, paint and coating removal from surfaces and concrete cutting in the process of repair of concrete structures is mentioned.

Nowadays, the abrasive water jet (AWJ) technology is much in use for cutting materials into complex shapes with high dimensional accuracy. The objective of the present paper is to study the topography as well as the roughness of the surfaces in friction stir welded (FSW) joints, machined by AWJ. It discusses machinability of the FSW joints by AWJ. Subsequently, this paper makes a critical analysis of the surface properties by optical profilometer. Top and bottom surfaces, created by FSW, have also been analyzed using an optical 3D measurement system to determine the morphology and topographic parameters. FSW possesses favourable joining properties and generates a minimum heat-affected zone (HAZ) because of its comparatively low temperature coalescence. Three friction stir welding samples were prepared at 500, 710 and 1000 rpm with a welding speed of 40 mm/min on AA 6101-T6. After analysis, it was found that the sample prepared at 500 rpm and with welding speed of 40 mm/min produces a surface fit for industrial applications in terms of surface roughness and dimensional accuracy. It has also been observed that unlike other conventional or non-conventional processes, no HAZ is generated during the cutting of FSW joints by using the AWJ technology.

Virtually every concrete structure comes into contact with abrasive effects of flowing media or solids, which have a direct impact on the durability of concrete. An abrasive effect is most pronounced in transport or water management structures, and these structures are often designed for a significantly longer service life (usually 100 years). This research evaluates the influence of the filler component in terms of the type of aggregate and its mineralogical composition on concrete abrasion resistance. As part of the impact of the binder component, several concrete mixtures were produced using the same aggregate and maintaining the same strength class with the addition of different types of active and inert mineral additives. In other parts of the research, the effect of adding fiber reinforcement on the abrasion resistance of concrete was verified. Mutual connections and correlations in different age groups (7, 28 and 90 days) were sought for all obtained results. The abrasion resistance of the composite was monitored by using standard procedures, especially using a Böhm device. It was found that for good abrasion resistance of concrete, it is not necessary to produce concretes with high strength classes using often expensive mineral additives (microsilica) and quality aggregates, but the maturation time of the composite and its microstructure plays an important role.

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