ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MODELING OF THE ABRASIVE WATER-JET CUTTING OF DUCTILE MATERIALS

In the present paper, the mechanism of material removal in the abrasiv e water jet machining of ductile materials and existing erosion models are reviewed. The concept of generalised kerf shape has been develope d into a qualitative model for aluminium and steel. Such information h as been used to develop analytical models for the total depth of cut, which take into account the variation in the width of cut along the de pth. The basic material property, which determines the total depth of cut, appears to be logically the melting specific energy rather than t he elastic modulus. The threshold velocity seems to be a complex funct ion of the abrasive water jet machining parameters and the material/ab rasive pair rather than a single-valued constant for a particular mate rial. The analytical models developed match nicely with experimental d ata. However, enough scope for research still exists in the direction of the characterisation of the jet, the losses occurring in the mixing chamber and in the insert, and the effect of the process parameter on the threshold velocity. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.