Abrasive Water Jet Machining

Process Principle
An abrasive jet starts out the same as a
pure water jet.
As the thin stream of water leaves the
nozzle, abrasive is added to the stream and
mixed.
The beam of water accelerates abrasive
particles to speeds fast enough to cut
through much harder materials.

 The mixing of abrasive particles in water

jet is in such a manner that water jets
momentum is transferred to the abrasives.
The coherent, abrasive water jet that exits
the AWJM nozzle has the ability to cut
various materials, such as metals, glass,
ceramics and composites.

Dynamics of an abrasive water jet

Two material removal mechanisms have
been identified.
The first mechanism typically occurs at
the uppermost portion of the kerf where the
abrasive impact angle is shallow.
In this portion of cut, material is removed
primarily through erosion.

Deeper into the kerf where the abrasive impact

angle is larger, deformation wear becomes the
primary material removal mechanism.
Although the mechanism are not fully
understood, 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.

Equipment

Abrasive Feed system

Purpose: Controlled flow of abrasive
particles to the abrasive jet nozzle.
AWJM abrasive feed systems deliver a
stream of dry abrasives to the nozzle.
Drawback with dry abrasive delivery
systems is that the delivery of abrasives
over long distances is difficult.

Abrasive Jet Nozzle

Purpose of the abrasive jet
nozzle is to provide
efficient mixing of the
abrasives and the water jet
and to form the highvelocity abrasive water-jet
combination.

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.
To minimize abrasive wear,the nozzle is usually made
from either tungsten carbide or boron carbide.
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.

Multiple jet
While cutting the same type of material,
one can choose the nozzle that works
best for that material.

Which nozzle is best for which material?

Water Jet Nozzle

AbrasiveJet Nozzle

Soft rubber
Hardened tool steel

Plastic

Titanium

Nylon

Aluminum

Graphite

Hard Rubber

Many ceramics

Paper and cardboard

Stone

Carbon Fiber

Soft Gasket material

Inconel

Composites

Diapers

mild steel

Copper

Foam

Extremely thin stuff like Foil

Carpet

Limitations of abrasive jet nozzles

Despite their simple design, abrasive jet nozzles
can be troublesome at times. There are many
designs, but they share the same problems:
Short life of the mixing tube The abrasive jet can
cut through just about anythingincluding itself.
This mixing tube is expensive and wears out in
only a few hundred hours of use. Replacing
mixing tubes will be a large part of your operating
cost.

 Occasional plugging of mixing tube Plugging is

usually caused by dirt or large particles in
abrasive. This used to be a big problem with
abrasive jet nozzles, but has been getting better
as manufacturers fine- tune mixing tube
designs.
Wear, misalignment, and damage to the jewel
The jewel needs to be precisely positioned in
the nozzle while water and thousands of pounds
of pressure impacts it.