Material Properties in Abrasive-Waterjet Machining

The abrasive-waterjet (AWJ) machining process is a controlled erosive wear process where the abrasive cutting agents are focused in a narrow beam. The beam-material interaction process constitutes more than one mode, the most dominant of which are the cutting wear mode and the deformation wear mode. The cutting wear mode occurs at the top of the kerf due to shallow angles of impact and results in a steady-state interface. The material hardness (H) or Vicker’s hardness number is the most relevant material property to this mode of interaction. The deformation wear mode occurs below the cutting wear mode due to large angles of impact and results in an unsteady penetration process. The modulus of elasticity (E) was found to correlate well with the deformation wear material removal. A prediction model was used to express the depth of cut (h) as a function of material properties: h = A/H + B/(E + C) where A, B, and C are process constants.