Performance Analysis of Abrasive Water Jet Cutting Process in Carbon Fiber Epoxy Polymer Composite

Abrasive water jet machining is unconventional material removal process used to dissolve openings and cavities by the force of rough particles of the slurry on hard and materials. It is a non traditional machining process able to machine wide scope of hard to cut materials such as alloys, composite materials. This work explores the impact of different process parameters on kerf angle and amount of materials removed which are imperative execution measures in abrasive waterjet machining. The variable abrasive water jet parameters considered here include water pressure, nozzle diameter stand-off distance and abrasive flow rate. Experiments were conducted on carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites by varying these parameters. This work concluded that maximum abrasive jet pressure increase the material removal rate and minimum stand off distance (SOD) will decrease the kerf angle in carbon fibre composites.