Advanced manufacturing processes (ME F315)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

BITS Pilani K. K. Birla Goa campus
Instructor in charge: Dr. Biswajit Das
Office No.- E107
Tel: +91-832-2580381 (O)

BITS Pilani K. K. Birla GoaDr.campus

Manoj Kumar Pandey
 AWJM-Abrasive water jet machining
 It stands out in all NTM processes since it can machine almost all the
materials with no thermal effects.

 Employing water and abrasives (for cutting metals, rocks, and stones is
quite unique)

 Water is first taken into pressure of around 4000 bars and it is made to
emanate from a nozzle at speeds near the 1000 m/s, containing abrasive
grits inside it and is made to impinge on work material.
 AWJM-Abrasive water jet machining
AWJM – entrained – three phase – abrasive, water
and air

AWJM – suspended – two phase – abrasive and water

Advantages
• Extremely fast set-up and programming
• Very little fixturing for most parts
• Machine virtually any 2D shape on any material
• Very low side forces during the machining
• Almost no heat generated on the part
• Machine thick plates
AWJM
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 AWJM
Material is mainly removed by low angle
impact by abrasive particles leading to
ploughing and micro cutting

At higher angle of impact, the material removal

involves plastic failure of the material at the
sight of impact,
In case of
AWJM of
brittle
materials, other
than the above
two models,
material would
be removed due
to crack striation formation
initiation and • surface finish of the kerf
propagation • tapering of the kerf
because of • burr formation on the exit side
brittle failure of the kerf
of the material
 WJM
• In water jet machining, high velocity (600-1400 m/s) and high
pressure (2000-8000 bars) water jet strikes a given workpiece.
• When the stream strikes a workpiece, the erosive force of water
removes the material rapidly. Erosion caused by localized
compressive failure which occurs when the local fluid pressure
exceeds the strength of the target material.
• Most of the kinetic energy of the jet of water is converted into the
high pressure energy on striking the surface.
• In some ductile materials it is involved with a shearing action caused
by high-speed radial flow of the jet along the workpiece.
• This process is primarily used to cut and machine soft, non-metallic
materials (wood, paper, leather and foam) and composites.
• Pulsed water jets have been used in rock excavation and machining
lead and aluminium.
WJM Process
 WJM Process
Typical tube diameters
are 6 to 14 mm.

Internal diameter of a
nozzle usually ranges
(200 to 600 hrs)
from 0.07 to 0.50 mm.
Stand-off distance is 2.5
to 6 mm.

(120 bars)

(4 - 5 bars)

(4000 bars)
 Application of WJM
• Cutting: WJM is used for cutting fibreglass, corrugated wood, asbestos and
polyethylene automotive parts.
• Drilling: Precision angled and shaped holes in variety of materials can be
drilled.
• Machining of plastics: PVC, Polyester, Kevlar, etc.
• Cutting of rocks: 51 mm deep slot in granite, 178 mm deep slot in sandstone.

• Deburring: Remove large burrs about 3 mm in height in 12 mm diameter

drilled holes in a hollow molybdenum chromium steel shaft.
•• Cutting
Surface of printed circuit
treatment: boards.
Removing deposits and
residues without toxic chemicals, decorative
finishing, nuclear decontaminations,
degreasing, polishing and surface texturing.
Removal of corrosion, spray residue, soluble
salts, chemicals and surface damage prior to
recoating or painting.
 Adv. And Dis Adv.
Advantages:
• Cheap, non-toxic, readily available and NO wear on tool.
• No heat is generated.
• Cuts can be started at any location without the need for pre-drilled holes.
• Any intricate contour can be cut in horizontal and vertical directions.
• The process is environment-friendly (best for asbestos and fibre insulation materials.
Hazardous airborne dust contamination and waste disposal problems that are common
when using other cleaning methods are eliminated.
• It is ideal for laser reflective materials such as copper and aluminum.
• It allows for more accurate cutting of soft materials (as leather, rubber and asbestos.
• It cuts thorough thick materials such as 383 mm in titanium / Inconel.
• Fluid can be reused by filtering out the debris.

Disadvantages:
• Not suitable for mass production
• Equipment/tools are expensive and therefore hourly rates are high.
• Contaminated water must be treated before disposal.
• Safety requirement is high as high pressure water jet is used.
MRR
WJM
 MCQ
1. For cutting frozen meat, which process is suitable:
(a) AJM
(b) USM
(c) AWJM
(d) WJM
(e) None of the others

2. In AWJM, the task of the intensifier is:

(f) To increase the mixing ratio
(g) To increase the temperature of the water
(h) To increase the pressure of the water
(i) None of the others
 MCQ
3. Stabilizers are long chain polymers which are added to water in
AWJM so that
(a) They convert the hard grits under high pressures
(b) The prevent the water from breaking up into fragments of after
exiting from nozzle
(c) They prevent water from dissociating into hydrogen and
oxygen under high pressure
(d) None of the others
4. In AWJM, the purpose of using water is:
(e) Have a cooling action during the cut so as to reduce the heat
affected zone
(f) Protect the work piece surface from oxidation during cutting
(g) Accelerate the abrasive particles to the required velocity and
carry them
(h) None of the others
 MCQ
5. Highest cooling rate is achieved by
(a) AWJM
(b) AJM
(c) LBM
(d) ECM
6. Primary disadvantage of abrasive jet machining is that
(e) Water is scarce in most part of the world
(f) It becomes slow for hard tough materials
(g) Garnet is expensive
(h) None of the others
 MCQ
7. In AWJM, material removal rate is mainly due to
(a) Melting of the work piece due to high temperature resulting
from abrasive impacts
(b) Pressure of the water on the work piece surface
(c) Kinetic energy of the abrasive impacting particles
(d) None of the others
8. Garnet is selected as the abrasive as
(e) It is found freely on the seaside
(f) It is hard and develops sharp edges
(g) It is hardest substance in the world
(h) None of the others
problem
1. Assuming no losses, determine water jet velocity, when the water pressure is
4000 bar, being issued from an orifice of diameter 0.3 mm

2. Determine the mass flow rate of water for the given problem assuming all
related coefficients to be 1.

3. If the mass flow rate of abrasive is 1 kg/min, determine the abrasive water jet
velocity assuming no loss during mixing process using the above data (data of
Question. 1, 2 and 3)

4. Determine depth of penetration, if a steel plate is AWJ machined at a

traverse speed of 300 mm/min with an insert diameter of 1 mm. The specific
energy of steel is 13.6 J/mm3.
Problem
An abrasive water jet machining company makes glass mementos by
grooving the map of India on plain glass samples by AWJM and finds that
abrasive cost in the market has increased by 20% but the machine overhead
(hourly machine cost for electricity, labor, lubricants and AMC only) has gone
down by 10%. Each part was taking 4 hours previously.

He now reduces abrasive consumption from 1 kg/min to 0.8 kg /min.

The water mass flow rate remains constant at 3.79 kg/min.

The previous grooving velocity is 300 mm/min, it can be changed now.

Previous abrasive cost is Rs 400/kg, and the previous machine overhead is Rs

200/hour.

Find out whether the company able to keep manufacturing cost /job the same.
Problem
You are working in a manufacturing concern which cuts grooves in a metallic
bodies (refer to figure below). The groove depth specification is 4mm with a
tolerance of ±0.03 mm. Groove depth and velocity of cut are related as
d=k/v
At present, you are employing a grooving velocity V=10 m/min to obtain an
exact depth of 4.02 mm. However, due to the running of another machine
nearby –a vibration is introduced into the table as shown with displacement
where A =amplitude=0.03mm, angular velocity=50π rad/s and t is in seconds.
It you still go on cutting the grooves, will they be accepted? Why?
Problem
In AWJM set up, abrasive addition is a constant 200 cc/min and water flow
rate is 3kg/min. The machine operators replaces original abrasives (ρ=4g/cc)
with a cheaper variety (ρ=3.1g/cc). Then

(a) MRR will increase

(b) MRR will decrease
(c) MRR will remain same
(d) Cant say, theoretical prediction depends on hardness
Problem
Your neighboring country has purchased an anti aircraft gun with a muzzle
output velocity of 560 m/s and the projectiles are of spherical size and made of
soild iron with density 7.6 g/cc. Your army helicopters are being targeted and
the defence department asks you to determine a safe flying height at which
the indentation damage depth can be a maximum of 5% of the projectile
diameter. The helicopter body is covered with TiB2 plates of hardness
3500kgf/mm2. Here-you can apply the theory of damage caused by abrasives
as in AJM.
Thank you
for
your patience

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