Surface formation and kerf improvements during single-pass abrasive waterjet cutting on aluminium block

Jusoh, Siti Fatihah (2024) Surface formation and kerf improvements during single-pass abrasive waterjet cutting on aluminium block. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Abrasive Waterjet (AWJ) cutting to cut a wide range of materials from soft to hard. Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting has many different benefits over other cutting technologies, including no thermal distortion, high machining versatility, high flexibility, and low cutting forces. It also appears to be an effective technology to processing multiple engineering materials, especially ''difficult-to-cut'' materials such as aluminium. Surface quality and kerf taper angle are crucial to the accuracy and functionality of machined products. This study focuses on the single-pass abrasive waterjet cutting procedure applied to an aluminum block in order to investigate surface quality and taper angle enhancements. This study investigates the influence of water pressure, traverse speed, and standoff distance on these parameters. Increasing water pressure during abrasive waterjet cutting tends to improve surface quality by reducing surface roughness and irregularities. However, care must be taken to prevent excessive erosion and turbulence when water pressures are excessively high. Slower traverse speed enable more time for abrasive particles to consistently erode the material, resulting in surfaces with a higher degree of smoothness. In contrast, excessively traverse speed can increase surface irregularity and material deformation. The taper angle is affected by the standoff distance, which is the vertical distance between the nozzle and the workpiece surface. Due to the dispersion of the cutting discharge, increasing standoff distance tends to enlarge the taper angle. Therefore, determining the optimal standoff distance is essential for preserving the intended taper angles. Besides , the specific values and relationships between cutting parameters and surface quality and kerf angle can vary depending on the cutting system, aluminum block properties, and application requirements. Using Taguchi's principle, Design of Experimentations are used to determine the best parameter can use to improve surface roughness and kerf taper angle. Experimentation and analysis were conducted to determine the relationships between the cutting parameters, resulting surface quality and kerf angle in a form of a predictive model.

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