A compressed-water pulse generator consists of a heavy-walled pressure vessel equipped with a fast-opening discharge valve. At ultra-high-pressure - UHP>100 MPa - water has significant compressibility, allowing storage and discharge of energetic pulses from a compact tool. Pulse generators with discharge energies of up to 250 kJ and nozzle diameter of 25- mm have been built and tested. The UHP pulses may be further accelerated through a tapered nozzle to generate hyper-pressure pulses with stagnation pressures of over 1 GPa. Heavy pulse generators have applications in civil engineering including rock blasting, concrete demolition and soil foundation improvmeent. Smaller systems can be used for manufacturing applications including hydro-forming, metal punching, joining and surface treatment.
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