Experimental investigation of stone drilling using water jet generated by electromagnetic actuator

Abstract

This paper aims to experimentally investigate the performance of a high-speed water jet generated by an electromagnetic actuator to drill the stone's surface. The electromagnetic actuator was designed and built by following the impact driven method (IDM). The experiment confirmed that the maximum jet velocity of 239.57 m/s and maximum impact pressure of 133.27 MPa are obtained at the traveling distance of 30 mm, the liquid volume of 0.1 mL, voltage capacity of 500 V, and the nozzle's orifice diameter of 0.5 mm. The performance characteristics, e.g., jet velocity and impact pressure of the water jet generator, have the potential for applying to many medical and engineering applications. The application of a high-speed water jet for stone drilling is investigated as a preliminary study. The water jet was then applied to drill the sandstones. The effects of numbers of a jet pulse to the jet drilling's depth in sandstones were reported, and the failure mechanisms of sandstone are also discussed. Finally, it is concluded that the high-speed water jet generated by the electromagnetic actuator has the potential to apply to stone drilling application.