Determination of the Correlation between Process Parameters and Kerf Characteristics in Abrasive Waterjet Milling of High Strength 7075-T6 Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

Non-conventional manufacturing processes are often advantageous compared to conventional ones, as they can achieve high productivity in demanding cases. Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining is one of the most established non-conventional machining processes, which can achieve high material removal rates without leading to undesired workpiece material alterations and can render a large variety of shapes. In the present work, experiments regarding the AWJ milling of high strength 7075-T6 aluminum alloy are conducted with a view to correlate the process parameters, such as waterjet pressure, jet standoff distance, jet traverse speed and abrasive mass flow rate with depth of penetration, width and taper angle of the produced kerf. After the correlation between input and output parameters of the process is established, statistical analysis enables the determination of the influence of input parameters on output quantities and finally, appropriate process conditions for the regulation of depth of cut and kerf characteristics are derived.