Cutting Performance of Luffa Cylindrica Fiber–Reinforced Composite by Abrasive Water Jet

Abstract

The work addresses the cutting performance of luffa cylindrica fiber–reinforced composite by abrasive water jet machining (AWJM). The composite (30, 40, and 50 wt. % fiber) is prepared using the compression molding technique. The extracted fiber morphology and the composite properties were analyzed, as per ASTM. The influence of machining parameters, such as jet pressure (P), traverse speed (TS), and standoff distance (SoD) over the taper angle (TA) and surface roughness (Ra), were analyzed. Based on the experimental results, it was observed that a higher value of P and lower TS and SoD resulted with minimum TA and Ra. The developed multilinear regression model confirms the goodness-of-fit at 95 % confidence interval. The optimum condition to set (P at 25 MPa, SoD at 1.1414 mm, and TS at 20 mm/min) for attaining minimum TA and Ra were determined by desirability analysis. Further, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) of TA depicted a contribution of 41.71 % by SoD, followed by TS and P by 27.33 % and 23.74 %, respectively. Similarly, the ANOVA of Ra resulted with a contribution of 16.72 % by P, 39.15 % by SoD, and 30.73 % by TS. Finally, the cut surface morphology of the composite was analyzed at optimum condition, and the results are revealed.