Assessment of the Influence of Selected Technological Parameters on the Morphology Parameters of the Cutting Surfaces of the Hardox 500 Material Cut by Abrasive Water Jet Technology

Abstract

This article deals with the evaluation of selected aspects of abrasive water jet technology (AWJ) in the cutting of abrasion-resistant steel (HARDOX 500) with a thickness of 40 mm. The high abrasion resistance as a typical significant property of this steel ranks it among the special materials that are increasingly used. As the AWJ is a multiparametric technology, selected levels of feed rate, abrasive mass flow and pump working pressure were used in the experiments from the spectrum of technological parameters. For the purposes of evaluation, the examined cut surfaces were documented by a modified photographic method of displaying the cut surface by means of side lighting on the untreated cutting surface. The experimental part evaluates the dependences of selected cutting surface quality parameters (surface roughness and abrasive water jet deflection) on selected important technological parameters of the production system with AWJ technology (abrasive mass flow, technological head feed rate and pump working pressure). Based on the evaluation of the experiments, regression models were created to interpolate and extrapolate data to compare or supplement existing solutions in the field of research and as a basis for optimizing operating costs and increasing the efficiency of production systems with abrasive water jet technology.

Measuring Procedures for Evaluating the Surface Roughness of Machined Parts

“…These are mainly applied in the field of mechanical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, production engineering, machining, biomedical engineering, automotive engineering, tribology, microsystems, precision mechanics, etc. [66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85].…”

Research Progress in Abrasive Water Jet Processing Technology

“…Akhai et al [ 93 ] used Taguchi’s gray relational (TGRA) analysis method in the processing of Al-6061 aluminum alloy by abrasive water jets to optimize the process parameters, with surface roughness, material removal rate, and edge width as the target-level characteristics for the process parameters (travel speed, spacing distance, and abrasive mass flow) to be optimized and obtained the optimum combination of process parameters travel speed of 100 mm/min, spacing distance of 1 mm, and abrasive mass flow of 300 g/min, indicating that the material removal rate was inversely proportional to surface roughness and edge width. Krenicky et al [ 94 ] used a modified photographic method to optimize the cutting process parameters (abrasive mass flow, pump pressure, and travel speed) for abrasive water jet cutting of wear-resistant steel using surface roughness and abrasive water jet deflection as the target level and obtained the optimum combination of process parameters with an abrasive mass flow rate of 270 g/min, pump pressure of 380 MPa, and travel speed of 10 mm/min. Perec et al [ 95 ] studied the optimization of process parameters (feed rate, water nozzle diameter, and concentration of abrasive) using response surface methodology with depth of cut as the target-level feature when cutting tool steel under recycled abrasive conditions and obtained the optimal combination of process parameters as follows: water nozzle diameter of 0.33 mm, feed rate of 2 mm/s, GMR80 concentration of 19.93%, and SPDG60 concentration of 20.53%, and the maximum depth of cut for GMR80 and SPDG60 abrasives was obtained as 28.39 mm and 21.98 mm, respectively.…”

Nozzle Condition Monitoring System Using Root Mean Square of Acoustic Emissions during Abrasive Waterjet Machining

“…Pure waterjets are used to cut soft materials such as foods, medicines, fabrics, or wood. Such waterjets cannot cut metals or hard composites, so an abrasive waterjet (AWJ) is required [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Water at 300-600 MPa and abrasive particles (#50-200 mesh) are mixed, ejected at high speed via a nozzle (bore size 0.24-0.40 mm), and the material is cut by the jet stream.…”