1.

0 INTRODUCTION
Today is the 21st century and in this century the competition has increased to many folds. Over the last decade or so there has been considerable demand for cost effective and high turnaround machine tool for use in industries. The demand for composites in aerospace and industrial applications has been skyrocketing in the past decade and the same trend will continue for the next two decades. Conventional machine tools are often not suitable for machining composites and so are lasers. This method of abrasive waterjet machining involves entraining abrasive particles carried in air into a high velocity waterjet. This stream is directed by means of a suitably designed nozzle on to the work piece to be machined [4]. Metal removal occurs due to erosion caused by the abrasive particles impacting the work surface at high speed. AWJs have several inherent merits that are unmatchable by most other machine tools: Preservation of structural/chemical integrity No HAZ and minimum surface hardening and no tearing with minimum fraying. Fatigue performance enhancement by combining AWJ and low-cost dry-grit blasting. Material independence Even for nanomaterials that are integrated seamlessly at the molecular level. No contact tool to wear and break when machining extremely hard and tough materials For example- silicon carbide ceramic matrix composites. Cost-effective with fast turnaround (no tooling or mask needed) for ones and twos (R&D) and/or for thousands (production) Complete a part from design to finish in minutes to several hours, saving manufacturing jobs from outsourcing. Minimum limitation in part size from macro to micro. Multi-machining mode - roughing, parting, drilling, turning, milling, and grooving, etc. in a single setup with no need for tool change and part transfer No contact tool to break when machining extremely hard and tough materials. Compatible with Just-In-Time practice for lean manufacturing The method is very inefficient with less than 3% of a waterjets energy being transferred to abrasive particles. The process of entraining abrasive carried in air

becomes increasingly ineffective at jet diameters under 500 micro meters and ceases to operate at jet diameters of 300 micro meters. As jet diameters less than 100 micro meters are required for micromachining the current generation of abrasive waterjets cannot be used to micromachine. Since the introduction of AWJs there has been no paradigm shift in the way abrasive waterjets are generated but there have been very substantial improvements in AWJ cutting performance. Improved cutting

performance is the result of incremental developments in ultra high pressure pumps, cutting heads, software and control systems. Improving cutting performance, combined with advances in machine tool design and innovative marketing and sales activities, has resulted in AWJs becoming one of the three major non contact cutting methods; the others being lasers and wire electric discharge machining (WEDM). Probably the most important development leading to widespread commercialization of AWJ based machine tools was the adoption of reacted tungsten carbide for cutting head focus tubes a paradigm shift in super hard materials technology by a major chemical company (Dow Chemical Company), exploited by a nozzle manufacturer (Boride Products Inc, now part of Kennametal Inc). A twenty times improvement in focus tube life to 50 to 100 hours transformed the prospects of abrasive waterjets from a niche market to a main stream machine tool [6].

2.0 PRINCIPLE
Waterjets are fast, flexible, reasonably precise, and in the last few years have become friendly and easy to use. They use the technology of high-pressure water being forced through a small hole (typically called the orifice or jewel) to concentrate an extreme amount of energy in a small area. The restriction of the tiny orifice creates high pressure and a high-velocity beam, much like putting your finger over the end of a garden hose. The inlet water for a pure waterjet is pressurized between 20,000 and 60,000 Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) (1300 to 6200 bar). This is forced through a tiny hole in the jewel, which is typically 0.007" to 0.020" in diameter (0.18 to 0.4 mm). This creates a very high-velocity, very thin beam of water (which is why some people refer to waterjets as "water lasers") travelling as close to the speed of sound (about 600 mph or 960 km/hr) [3].

An abrasivejet starts out the same as a pure waterjet. As the thin stream of water leaves the jewel, however, abrasive is added to the stream and mixed. The highvelocity water exiting the jewel creates a vacuum which pulls abrasive from the abrasive line, which then mixes with the water in the mixing tube. The beam of water accelerates abrasive particles to speeds fast enough to cut through much harder materials. The cutting action of an abrasivejet 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 abrasivejet 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 abrasivejet nozzle is crucial to efficient and economical machining. The most commonly used abrasive is garnet because of its optimum performance of cutting power versus cost and its lack of toxicity. It is also a good compromise between cutting power and wear on carbide mixing tubes. There are two types of garnet that are generally used: HPX and HPA, which are produced from crystalline and alluvial deposits, respectively.13 HPX garnet grains have a unique structure that causes them to fracture along crystal cleavage lines, producing very sharp edges that enable HPX to outperform its alluvial counterpart. There are other abrasives that are more or less aggressive than garnet [2].

3.0 WORKING
Intensifier, shown in Fig. 1 is driven by a hydraulic power pack. The heart of the hydraulic power pack is a positive displacement hydraulic pump. The power packs in modern commercial systems are often controlled by microcomputers to achieve programmed rise of pressure etc. The hydraulic power pack delivers the hydraulic oil to the intensifier at a pressure of p . By using direction control valve, the intensifier is
h

driven by the hydraulic unit. The water may be directly supplied to the small cylinder of the intensifier or it may be supplied through a booster pump, which typically raises the water pressure to 11 bar before supplying it to the intensifier. Sometimes water is softened or long chain polymers are added in additive unit. Thus, as the intensifier works, it delivers high pressure water. 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. High-pressure water is then fed through the flexible stainless steel pipes to the cutting head. It is worth mentioning here that such pipes are to carry water at 4000 bar (400 MPa) with flexibility incorporated in them with joints but without any leakage. Cutting head consists of orifice, mixing chamber and focussing tube or insert where water jet is formed and mixed with abrasive particles to form abrasive water jet.

Fig-1 Intensifier-Schematic

Fig. 2 shows a cutting head or jet former both schematically and photographically. Typical diameter of the flexible stainless steel pipes is of 6 mm. Water carried through the pipes is brought to the jet former or cutting head. The potential or pressure head of the water is converted into velocity head by allowing the highpressure water to issue through an orifice of small diameter (0.2 0.4 mm). The velocity of the water jet thus formed can be estimated, assuming no losses as using Bernoullis equation, p is the water pressure and is the density of water. The
w w

orifices are typically made of sapphire. In WJM this high velocity water jet is used for the required application where as in AWJM it is directed into the mixing chamber. The mixing chamber has a typical dimension of inner diameter 6 mm and a length of 10 mm. As the high velocity water is issued from the orifice into the mixing chamber, low pressure (vacuum) is created within the mixing chamber. Metered abrasive particles are introduced into the mixing chamber through a port.

Fig-2 Schematic and photographic view of the cutting head

Fig. 3 schematically shows the mixing process. 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.

Fig-3 Schematic view of mixing process

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. They 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.

4.0 PROCESS PARAMETERS:

The variables that influence the rate of metal removal and accuracy of machining in this process are:

Carrier Gas: Carrier gas, to be used in abrasive jet machining, must not flare excessively when discharged from the nozzle into the atmosphere. Further, the gas should not be nontoxic, cheap, easily available and capable of being dried and cleaned without difficulty. The gasses that can be used are air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen. Air is most commonly used owing to easy availability and little cost.

Types Of Abrasive: The choice of abrasive depends upon the type of machining operations, for example, roughing, finishing etc., work material and cost. The abrasive should have a sharp and irregular shape and be fine enough to remain suspended in carrier gas and should also have excellent flow characteristics.

Grain Size: The rate of metal removal depends on the size of the abrasive grain. Finer grains are less irregular in shape, and hence, possess lesser cutting ability. Moreover, finer grains tend to stick together and choke the nozzle. The most favourable grain size ranges from 10-50 .

Jet Velocity: The kinetic energy of the abrasive jet is utilized for the metal removal by erosion. Finnie and Sheldon have shown that for erosion to occur, the jet must impinge the work surface with a certain minimum velocity. Figures 4 and 5 shows the effect of nozzle pressure on the rate of metal removal.

Fig-4 Pressure vs. MRR (Grain Size- 40, 24, 10)

Fig-5 Pressure vs. MRR (Abrasive- AL 2O3 Work material- cemented carbide Grain Size- 40)

Mean Number Of Abrasive Grains Per Unit Volume Of Carrier Gas: An idea about mean number of abrasive grains per unit volume of the carrier gas can be obtained from the mixing ratio M. A large value of M should result in higher rates of metal removal but a large abrasive flow rate has been found to adversely influence jet velocity, and may sometimes even clog the nozzle. Thus, for the given conditions, there is an optimum mixing ratio that leads to a maximum metal removal rate.

Work Material: AJM is recommended for the processing of brittle materials, such as glass, ceramics, refractories, etc. Most of the ductile materials are practically unmachinable by AJM.

Stand Off Distance: A large SOD results in the flaring up of the jet which leads to poor accuracy. Fig 6 shows the relationship between the SOD and the rate of material removal. Small metal removal rates at a low SOD is due to a reduction in nozzle pressure with decreasing distance, whereas a drop in material removal rate at large SOD is due to a reduction in the jet velocity with increasing distance.

Fig-6 SOD vs. MRR Abrasive- AL2O3, Grain Size- 40, Work Material- Glass, Pressure- 0.03)

Nozzle Design: The nozzle has to withstand the erosive action of abrasive particles, and hence, must be made of materials that can provide high resistance to wear. The common materials for nozzle are sapphire and tungsten carbide. The nozzle should be so designed that the pressure loss due to bends, friction, etc. is as little as possible.

Shape Of Cut: The accuracy of machining is also dependent upon the shape of cut. It may not be possible to machine components with sharp corners because of stray cutting in this process [7].

5.0 NOZZLE WEAR IN AWJM:

As shown in Fig. 7 the focusing nozzle, which is the most critical part in AWJ cutting systems, is subjected to two modes of wear:

 Impact erosion beginning at the entry cone down to approximately one third of the nozzle length; Sliding erosion in the downstream area, where particles travel parallel to the wall and the wear mode shifts from shallow impact to abrasion.

Fig-7 Interaction of a particle containing waterjet with AJW nozzle

As the bore diameter of the nozzle increases owing to wear of the material, the coherence of the jet beam decreases, which ultimately leads to failure of the nozzle: The widening jet beam increases the kerf width, i.e. the width of the cut, and decreases the cutting efficiency. The material of a brittle work piece is removed during AWJ cutting owing to a network of cracks created by the direct impact of erodent particles and by adjacent impacting particles. The crack network model Fig. 8, assumes a vertical impact of erodent particles, which fragment during the impact. During impact two types of cracks are produced: Median and radial cracks normal to the surface, Lateral cracks which are parallel to the surface.

Fig-8 Brittle material removal by impact of a waterjet containing abrasive particles

The interaction of lateral and radial cracks is considered to result in material removal, i.e. the spallation of tiny chips off the surface. Boron carbide displayed the highest calculated wear resistance as compared with hard metals, alumina-based ceramics, silicon nitride based ceramics and some grades of silicon carbide ceramics. However, in erosion experiments boron carbide showed best resistance only at low impact angles ( <20), followed by a brittle response regime of erosion wear, in which wear rates peak at 90 erodent impact angle (see Fig. 9). The technical superiority of boron carbide as a blast nozzle material is well established; therefore its poor erosion resistance at high impact angles does not compromise its effectiveness in this particular application.

Fig-9 Erosion rate as a function of the impact angle

10

However, owing to the extreme speeds of abrasive particles, when entrained in a waterjet (700 m s-l), the bore entry zone of waterjet nozzles is heavily loaded at impact angles of 15-45. For very brittle materials such as boron carbide it is well known, that the critical load for generating lateral cracks (cracking threshold P,) is orders of magnitude lower than for hard metals or tough ceramics [1].

6.0 COMPARISON BETWEEN WJM, AWJM AND AJM:

Sr.No.

AWJM

WJM

AJM

1.

Abrasive waterjet machining uses a mixture of water, abrasive and sometimes air.

Waterjet machining uses steam of pure water to cut work piece.

Abrasive jet machining uses a mixture of air and abrasive.

2.

AWJM can be used to cut harder materials like titanium, stainless steel, ceramic tile etc.

WJM cannot machine metallic alloy but can cut polymers, leather like materials.

AJM can cut almost all hard and brittle materials.

3.

Flaring problem of abrasive water mixture while coming out of the orifice is minimum, so no stabilizer is used.

Flaring problem is there, so stabilizer is must.

Flaring problem is observed.

11

4.

Nozzle wear is a major problem in case of AWJM.

Nozzle wear is not observed in case of WJM.

Nozzle wear rate are influenced by the size and distance of nozzle.

5.

Finishing is very good as compared to other machining methods.

Finishing is better than other processes but not as good as AWJM.

Finishing is not that good.

6.

Used at much higher pressure greater than 4000 bar.

Used at high pressure but less than 4000 bar

Lesser pressure as compared to AWJM.

7.

Disposal of waste is a major problem in case of AWJM.

Pure water is used in this process so no waste is produced.

Comparatively greener.

8.

Expensive as compared to other processes.

Relatively cheaper

Initial cost is low.

12

7.0 ADVANTAGES:
No cutter-induced distortion. Low cutting forces on work piece. Limited tooling requirements. Little to no cutting burr. Small kerf size (.020"-.045") reduces material scrap. No heat-affected zone. Localizes structural changes. No cutter-induced metal contamination. Eliminates thermal distortion. Minimal delimitation of edge cut surfaces. No fraying of edge cut surfaces. No thermally induced cracking. No splintering. No slag or cutting dross. Precise multiplane cutting of contours, shapes, and bevels of any angle. Reduced need for secondary finishing. Dust particles are not produced that can degrade environment. Used to produce prototype parts efficiently. Easily automated for production use. Lighter in weight as compared to other machining processes. Thick sections can be cut. Highly precise. No start hole is required. Safe operation.

13

8.0 APPLICATIONS:
Printed Circuit Boards: For circuit boards, abrasive waterjet cutting is mostly used to cut out smaller boards from a large piece of stock (see Fig.-10). This is a desired method, since it has a very small kerf, or cutting width, and does not waste a lot of material. Another benefit is that waterjet cutting does not produce the vibrations and forces on the board.

Fig-10 Cutting of PCB by AWJM

Wire Stripping: If no abrasives are used, the stream is powerful enough to remove any insulation from wires, without damaging the wires themselves. It is also much faster and efficient than using human power to strip wires. Food Preparation: The cutting of certain foods such as bread can also be easily done with waterjet cutting (see Fig- 11). Since the abrasive waterjet exerts such a small force on the food, it does not crush it, and with a small kerf width, very little is wasted.

14

Fig-11 Cutting of food products by AWJM

Wood Cutting: Woodworking is another application that abrasive waterjet machining can be used for. Since wood is a softer material compared to steel, almost all wood can be cut, and the abrasive particles sand the surface, leaving a smooth finish that doesnt require sanding.

Fig- 12 Wood cutting by abrasive waterjet machining

15

Tool Steel: For abrasive waterjet cutting, tool steels are one application, although a limited one. It can be very useful though because tool steel is generally very difficult to cut with conventional machining methods, and may cause an unwanted by-product (see Fig-13).

Fig-13 Cutting of tool steel by AWJM

16

9.0 CONCLUSION:
With commercial aerospace and wind energy (turbine blades) being the leading drivers and microelectronics not far behind, the composites industry has seen strong double-digit growth. Since composites are not only expensive but also difficult to machine with established machine tools, there is a considerable need for a cost effective, fast turnaround and damage free machine tool to meet the anticipated demand. Abrasive-waterjets have shown to possess inherent merits that were unmatchable by most other machine tools. For patterns that do not need internal piercing, AWJs have shown to be a preferred tool for machining composites. Waterjet technology has inherent technological and manufacturing merits that make it suitable for machining most materials from macro to micro scales. It has been established as one of the most versatile precision machining tools and has proven amenable to micromachining. This technology has emerged as the fastest growing segment of the overall machine tool industry in the last decade. Efforts are being made to further downsize AWJ nozzles for machining features around 100 and 50 m. This seminar gives a detail study of AWJM.

17