OPTIMIZATION OF CUT QUALITY FOR AWJ PROCESSING OF A STEEL ALLOY

Abstract

Abrasive water jet (AWJ) has gained an important place among the machining technologies due to its capacity to cut complex shapes in various materials without thermal effects and with low cutting forces, but it also has a reduced environmental impact. A key element for the quality of the cut is the amount of energy contained in the abrasive jet. The dissipaton of energy leads to kerf taper, high values of surface roughness, surface striations, the deviation of the water jet (jet drag), and even insufficient penetration. The current paper investigates the influence of process parameters on the quality of the cut for a S235 steel alloy. The quality of the cut was assessed by four parameters: entrance width of cut (Li), exit width of cut (Le), perpendicularity (u) and kerf angle (α). The experiments were organized according to a D-optimal Response Surface Method. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for the development of a mathematical model that correlates the influence of process parameters on the quality of the cut. Finally, an optimization of the process parameters was proposed.