An experimental study of abrasive waterjet machining of Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study on abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining of the most commonly used titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V. Two types of machining operations, i.e. drilling (or piercing) and slotting, were conducted. For the drilling experiments, the influences of water pressure and drilling time were investigated. It was found that both the hole depth and diameter increased as drilling time increased but in a decreasing rate. An increase in the water pressure increased both the hole depth and the hole diameter. For the slot cutting, the influence of water pressure and the traverse speed were investigated. A slower traverse speed resulted in a deeper depth of cut. The kerf showed a taper shape with a wider entry on top, and the width decreased as jet cut into the material. At the bottom of the kerf, a pocket was generated. The variation of the depth of cut became insignificant when the traverse speed was increased.

Experimental research on the machinability of Hardox steel by abrasive waterjet cutting

“…The surface roughness increases with the increase of the traverse speed. This variation is in accordance with all other previous researches done by others [5][6][7][8][9][10]. But the intensity of variation is different.…”

“…Like all previous researches have demonstrated [4][5][8][9][10], the main process parameters which affect the quality of the parts are the jet pressure, the traverse speed and the abrasive flow rate. Because the jet pressure is recommended to be used at the maximum value provided by the equipment for productivity reasons this parameters was kept constant.…”

“…Some manufactured parts can be seen in Figure 2b. The main parameters of influence which are considered by the comprehensive researches until present day [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] are the water pressure, the traverse speed, the abrasive flow rate and the standoff distance between the nozzle and the surface of the material to be cut. As the water pressure directly influences the process productivity and costs, almost all researches agree that it is better to use the maximum values given by the equipment.…”

“…The two variable process parameters considered were the traverse speed (TRS) and the standoff distance (STD). Their range of values was established either by studying experiments done by others [9][10][11], either by some preliminary tests done by the authors.…”

An experimental study on the dimensional accuracy of holes made by abrasive waterjet machining of Hardox steels

“…There is a larger number of parameters which have an influence on the quality and cost of the process [5]. In the last decade there were published several research studies on AWJ, focusing mainly on the surface roughness, the kerf formation and the influence of the traverse speed on those parameters [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. But each research analysed one type of material and the results have the validity for that type of material.…”