ROBOTIC HIGH PRESSURE WATER JET CUTTING of CHUCK SLICES¹

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the objective of producing high quality and economical starting material for restructured beef products, the use of a high pressure water jet was investigated for excising objectionable material from slices of bone‐in beef chuck. From the limited number of tests conducted, best conditions for a clean, smooth cut were obtained with a water jet orifice diameter of 0.15 mm (0.006 in), a water pressure of 380 MPa (55,000 PSI), a slice thickness of 19 mm (3/4 in) and a linear cutting speed of 10.9 m/min (430 in/min). A preliminary cost comparison indicated that a fully automated line had a greate economic advantage over the manual method.