ABSTRACT
This paper is dedicated to investigate the abrasive water-jet (AWJ) cutting
parameters of hard-to-cut materials represented by Armox shielding steel plate of 7.6
mm thick. Experiments were carried out in machining Armox in order to investigate
the possibility of using the AWJ process for machining process. Process variables
such as water jet travers speed, water jet pressure, stand-off distance, and abrasive
flow rate have been investigated to study the effect of each on the AWJ cutting
process parameters. Cutting parameters such as the profiles of machined surfaces,
kerf geometries and material removal rate were investigated.
The experimental results indicate that the traverse speed is a significant parameter
on the surface roughness. It was also observed that the kerf taper ratio and surface
roughness increase with increasing traverse speed in chosen conditions. Moreover, it
shows that surface roughness, and the material removal rate are widely affected by
the abrasive flow rate. The increase of abrasive flow rate yields the material removal
rate but decreases the surface roughness. Stand-off distance and jet pressure almost
had no effect on both surface roughness and material removal rate.