Investigation of kerf Characteristics in Abrasive Water Jet Machining of Inconel 600 using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) has found its application in the manufacturing industries for machining hard materials with precision. A degree of high precision in machining of complex geometries makes AWJM valuable. The selection of optimum process parameters is important to the resulting quality of machined parts. In this study, an experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the machinability of Inconel 600. A response surface methodology (RSM) is used to determine the influence of the AWJM process parameters on the considered performance characteristics, i.e., kerf top width (KTW) and taper angle. The analysis of variance is performed to obtain the contribution and influence of each process parameter on the considered responses. The value of R-Squared obtained for KTW and taper angle using regression model is 0.97 and 0.96 respectively. The optimum setting of the parameters for single and multiple response characteristics are obtained using the desirability analysis of RSM. The results obtained using desirability analysis of RSM is validated by conducting the confirmation experiments. The experimental confirmatory values obtained for the considered performance parameters KTW and taper angle as 27.138 and 0.125 respectively. The corresponding value of error obtained as 0.383 and 0.013 respectively. Further, an optimum set is obtained with KTW as 27.461 mm and taper angle as 0.582° for multiple response optimisation.

Comparison of drilling of Inconel 625 by AWJM and WEDM

“…Sibalija et al obtained surface roughness values in the range of 0.93–2.77 µm Ra by preferring the working parameters 96–126 µs Ton (pulse-on time), 46–56 µs Toff (pulse-off time), 40–50 V voltage, 12 A peak current, 4–8 m/min wire feed rate and 1,020 g wire tension in the processing of Inconel 625 alloy in the WEDM method (Sibalija et al , 2021). Singh and Shukla preferred 62.5–100 mm/min transverse speed, 1–3 mm standoff distance and 3,625–4,000 bar water pressure values for the processing of Inconel 600 material in the AWJM method, and as a result, they obtained kerf taper angle values in the range of 0.1248–0.7932° (Singh and Shukla, 2020). It is seen that the results are in harmony when the findings of similar studies in the literature and this study are compared.…”

“…The kerf angle was formed as a result. The kerf angle was calculated using the formula in equation (1) (Singh and Shukla, 2020): …”

“…(Sibalija et al, 2021). Singh and Shukla preferred 62.5-100 mm/min transverse speed, 1-3 mm standoff distance and 3,625-4,000 bar water pressure values for the processing of Inconel 600 material in the AWJM method, and as a result, they obtained kerf taper angle values in the range of 0.1248-0.7932° (Singh and Shukla, 2020). It is seen that the results are in harmony when the findings of similar studies in the literature and this study are compared.…”

Multi-objective Optimisation in Abrasive Waterjet Contour Cutting of AISI 304L

“…Additionally, they established standoff distances, as the least contributing parameter. Research focused on optimisation of cutting operations is being continuously undertaken by researchers, where varied methods have been employed to solve different single and multi-objective optimisation problems [11][12][13][14]. Whereas single-objective optimisation problems have conventionally been applied, the performance of AWJM has mainly been measured based on multiple responses.…”