MODELLING STUDIES ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF LAMINATED GLASS CUT BY ABRASIVE WATER JET

Abstract

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) is a non-traditional machining process used for cutting ductile, brittle and hard materials. AWJ cuts almost all materials, absence of thermal distortion, high flexibility, smaller cutting forces, no heat affected zone and being environmentally friendly. In the present study an attempt has been made to study Depth of Cut (DOC) and Surface Roughness of laminated glass cut by AWJ. Jet Pressure (p), Speed of Traverse (u) and Flow rate of abrasive (ṁ) are varied at three different levels. A total of 27 experiments considering different levels of parameters have been carried out on a trapezoidal shaped laminated glass of 38 mm thickness. DOC is measured with height measuring gauge. The effect of parameters on surface roughness and DOC is obtained through main effect plot. Surface Roughness (Ra) values are measured at the wear region along cut direction. Dimensional analysis modelling for Ra is carried out to predict the model equation for Ra by Buckingham’s π –method. Comparison of model average Ra and experimental average Ra is carried out to predict the suitability of the model.