Experimental Investigations on Multiple Responses in Abrasive Waterjet Machining of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

Abstract

In general, Ti-6Al-4V alloys are one of the challenging materials to machine using conventional machining process. Due to its high strength to weight ratio, good thermal stable property and exceptional corrosion resistance, Ti-6Al-4V became an attention-grabbing material to propose a proper modeling and machining for various types of applications. In this research study, Ti-6Al-4V was machined using Abrasive Waterjet Machining under different process parameters such as mesh size, abrasive flow rate, pressure and traverse speed. The Machining approach is based on the Box Behnken method to enhance the Abrasive waterjet machining process parameter for effective machining of Ti-6Al-4V. Then multiple responses were carried out such as kerf taper geometries (θ), surface roughness (Ra) and material removal rate (MRR). The structures of various machining surface regions were examined using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results specify that high pressure, low traverse speed, low abrasive mesh size and high abrasive flow rate were resulted in lower surface roughness in Ti-6Al-4V. And it was found that high pressure, high mesh size leads to minimum kerf taper ratio and whereas high traverse speed produce a maximum kerf taper. It was also evident that high abrasive flow rate, standard traverse speed and low pressure provide high MRR in selected conditions.