A research on ultrasonic-assisted abrasive waterjet polishing of hard-brittle materials

Abstract

In the present study, the abrasive waterjet (AWJ) with the aid of ultrasonic vibration was used to improve the processing performance of hard-brittle materials. The method is termed as the ultrasonic-assisted abrasive waterjet polishing (UA-AWJP). Aluminum nitride was chosen as the workpiece material. Ultrasonic vibration perpendicular to the jet impact direction was applied on the workpiece by using a specially designed stage. A series of experiments were performed to evaluate the performance of the UA-AWJP. The processing performances and the polished surface topographies of the AWJP and UA-AWJP were compared to investigate the effects of ultrasonic vibration. The results show that UA-AWJP has a higher processing efficiency than AWJP. The surface roughness of the polished surface was modeled. The model shows a considerable agreement with the experimental results. The experimental results show that a lower pressure, finer abrasives, and a smaller impact angle are ideal to obtain a high surface quality.