ABSTRACT

Rock excavations in urban areas are highly restricted due to the need to control the blasting vibration level and make rapid excavation. Rock excavation using an abrasive waterjet system is now under development for efficiently creating tunnels and underground spaces. There are two types of abrasive waterjet system: the abrasive waterjet system (AWJ, injection type) and the abrasive suspension jet (ASJ) system. This study compares the rock cutting performance of the AWJ and ASJ systems. Appropriate application fields of each waterjet system are recommended and cutting performance characteristics are described. The recommended methods can be effectively used to obtain baseline data for implementing alternative rock excavations for civil engineering applications.