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Introduction
Abrasive water jet (AWJ) cutting is a nonconventional machining process in which, abrasive grains ,entrained in a high speed water jet ,collide with the work piece and erode it.
A water jet is used to accelerate the abrasive grains and to assist the material removal process.
WJM is suitable for cutting plastics, rubber insulation, and most textiles whereas ,harder materials such as glass, ceramics, concrete and tough composites can be cut by adding abrasives to the water jet.
AWJM uses a pressure of 4.2 bar to accelerate a large volume of a water (70 percent) and abrasive (30 percent) mixture up to a velocity of 30 m/s.
Working Principle
In AWJM, the water jet stream accelerates abrasive particles, not the water, to cause the material removal. The velocity of the water jet is up to 900m/s. It is obtained by a high pressure water pump with a typical pressure value of 400MPa. The pressurized water is forced through an orice made of sapphire. The velocity of the water jet thus formed can be estimated, assuming no losses as vwj = (2pw / w)1/2 using Bernoullis equation. Where, pw and w are pressure and density of water respectively.
The important parameters of the abrasives are the material structure and hardness, grain shape, size, and distribution.
After the pure water jet is created, abrasives are added using either the injection or suspension methods as shown.
Injection jet
Suspension jet
There are three different types of suspension AWJ formed by direct, indirect and Bypass pumping method.
Setup of AWJM
Filters
Mixing chamber Cutting nozzles
Catcher
AWJM SYSTEM
Intensifier
Intensifier is a positive displacement hydraulic pump.
By using direction control valve, the intensifier is driven by the hydraulic unit. The water may be directly supplied to the small cylinder of the intensifier.
As the larger piston changes direction within the intensifier, there would be a drop in the delivery pressure.
To counter such drops, a thick cylinder is added to the delivery unit to accommodate water at high pressure. This is called an accumulator which acts like a fly wheel of an engine and minimises fluctuation of water pressure
Hydraulic power pack delivers hydraulic oil at a pressure ph to Intensifier. Thus, pressure amplification at the small cylinder takes place as follows:
Abrasive Hopper
Waterjet ADS (Abrasive Delivery Systems) Hoppers used with waterjet tables, precisely monitor the availability of sufficient abrasive closely during the entire waterjet cutting process. Abrasive is stored in the abrasive storage vessel and pneumatically transferred to the abrasive metering assembly.
Mixing Chamber
Mixing means gradual entrainment of abrasive particles within the water jet and finally the abrasive water jet comes out of the focussing tube or the nozzle. During mixing process, the abrasive particles are gradually accelerated due to transfer of momentum from the water phase to abrasive phase and when the jet finally leaves the focussing tube, both phases, water and abrasive, are assumed to be at same velocity. The mixing chamber, is immediately followed by the focussing tube or the inserts.
The abrasives go on interacting with the jet and the inner walls of the mixing tube, until they are accelerated using the momentum of the water jet. During mixing process momentum loss occurs as the abrasives collide with the water jet and at the inner wall of the focussing tube multiple times before being entrained. The focussing tube is generally made of tungsten carbide (powder metallurgy product)having an inner diameter of 0.8 to 1.6 mm and a length of 50 to 80 mm. Tungsten carbide is used for its abrasive resistance. Abrasive particles during mixing try to enter the jet, but they are reflected away due to interplay of buoyancy and drag force
There is a difference between a pure water jet nozzle and an abrasive jet nozzle. With the abrasive jet nozzle, an opening in the side of the nozzle allows for the introduction of the abrasive to the high-pressure water stream. The two are mixed in a mixing tube and then exit the nozzle. With a pure water jet nozzle, there is no opening and no mixing tube and the high-pressure water is directed to the material after it exits the jewel.
Material- sapphire, tungsten carbide, boron carbide, ruby or diamond orifice. The nozzles are subject to wear and their cost must be taken into consideration for job costing. The orifice of a mixing tube will typically increase in diameter by about 0.001" per hour of cutting because of the erosion of the abrasive flowing through the nozzle. If this wear occurs in an even fashion, up to 120 hours of cutting can be realized with a nozzle. Controls allow for compensating for this wear by allowing the operator to change the tool offset. If the wear of the nozzle is not symmetrical, the water jet stream will also not be round. This will result in wider tolerances when cutting in a certain direction. The tolerance requirements of a job will dictate the actual number of hours a user can expect from a nozzle. The nozzle can, of course, be set aside and used later for looser tolerance jobs.
Nozzle
Types Of Nozzle
Two major design concepts are currently used for the design of abrasive jet nozzles.
Single-jet side feed nozzle:This design is based on a central water jet with abrasives fed into the mixing chamber from the side. This configuration is easily machined and can be made quite small, which is an advantage when cutting in tight locations. But this concept does not provide for optimal mixing efficiency and usually experiences rapid wear of the exit section. The major advantage with this system is this that, it incorporates a central, conventional water jet, the abrasive flow can be stopped and the system will function as a conventional WJM system.
Multile jet
Catcher
Once the abrasive jet has been used for machining, they may have sufficiently high level of energy depending on the type of application. Such high-energy abrasive water jet needs to be contained before they can damage any part of the machine or operators. Catcher is used to absorb the residual energy of the AWJ and dissipate the same.
There are three different types of catcher water basin type, submerged steel balls and TiB2 plate type.
Due to its high Mohs hardness, aluminum oxide has been rarely used, for cutting of very hard materials. Because of its high hardness aluminum oxide rapidly wears out the nozzle and is expensive to operate. Other less commonly used abrasives are olivine sand, silica sand and slag by-products. Most shops use the abrasive once and then it is disposed as land fill waste. Stabilisers: The reason for using stabilisers is that at high velocity ,water jet that is discharged from the orifice, tends to entrain atmospheric air and flares out decreasing its cutting ability. Hence, quite often stabilisers (long chain polymers) that hinder the fragmentation of water jet are added to the water. The stabilisers used are Xanthan , Zycoprint ,Superwater etc.
The ability for AWJM to penetrate very thick material may be due to reentrainment of abrasive particles in the jet after the initial impacts at the top of the cut.
The cutting action of an abrasive jet is two-fold. The force of the water and abrasive erodes the material, even if the jet is stationary (which is how the material is initially pierced).
The cutting action is greatly enhanced if the abrasive jet stream is moved across the material and the ideal speed of movement depends on a variety of factors, including the material, the shape of the part, the water pressure and the type of abrasive.
Controlling the speed of the abrasive jet nozzle is crucial to efficient and economical machining.
Where
u cd do -
pw w -
Pressure of water
Density of water
Process Parameters
Stand-off-distance
Data generated by some researchers indicate that depth of cut is approximately linear relative to SOD. Increasing SOD decreasing the depth of cut. When mixing is efficient and process parameters are correct, a deviation in SOD of up to +-12.7mm can be tolerated without degradation of the cut quality. If SODs are increased to a distances of about 80mm, the process will no longer cut but will efficiently clean and descale surfaces.
Top of the kerf (bt) is wider than the bottom of the kerf (bb).
bt is equal to the diameter of AWJ or AWJM.
Diameter of AWJ is equal to the diameter of the focussing tube or the insert if the stand-off distance (SOD) is around 1 to 5 mm. Taper angle of the kerf can be reduced by increasing the cutting ability of the AWJ.
Striation marks
It may be observed that the surface quality at the top of the kerf is rather good compared to the bottom part. At the bottom there is repeated curved line formation. At the top of the kerf, the material removal is by low angle impact of the abrasive particle; where as at the bottom of the kerf it is by plastic failure. Striation formation occurs due to repeated plastic failure. Thus, in WJM and AWJM the following are the important product quality parameters. Striation formation. Surface finish of the kerf. Tapering of the kerf. Burr formation on the exit side of the kerf.
Advantages
Higher feed rates/faster machining High speed High accuracy Robust construction No heat generated. Leaves a satin smooth finish, thus reducing secondary operations. Unlike machining or grinding, waterjet cutting does not produce any dust or particles that are harmful if inhaled. The kerf width in waterjet cutting is very small, and very little material is wasted. Waterjet cutting can be easily automated for production use. Waterjet cutting does not leave a burr or a rough edge, and eliminates other machining operations such as finish sanding and grinding.
Disadvantages
Slow material removal rate. The process produces a tapered cut. Thick parts can not be cut with waterjet cutting and still hold dimensional accuracy. If the part is too thick, the jet may dissipate some, and cause it to cut on a diagonal, or to have a wider cut at the bottom of the part than the top.
Waterjet lag
Taper is also a problem with waterjet cutting in very thick materials. Taper is when the jet exits the part at a different angle than it enters the part, and can cause dimensional inaccuracy. Decreasing the speed of the head may reduce this, although it can still be a problem.
Stream lag caused inside corner damage to this 1-in.-thick stainless steel part. The exit point of the stream lags behind the entrance point, causing irregularities on the inside corners of the part. The thicker the material is or the faster an operator tries to cut it, the greater the stream lag and the more pronounced the damage.
Applications
Materials that are reflective, conductive, heat resisting, or heat sensitive are ideal candidates for abrasive water jet cutting. As the material thickness increases AWJ becomes the preferred cutting technique, especially where accuracy must be maintained. Edge finishing De-burring Polishing Paint removal Cleaning Cutting soft materials Cutting frozen meat Textile, Leather industry
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