Numerical Modeling of a Pure Water Jet Machining of Ti-6Al-4V and Al 6061-T6 Using ABAQUS and Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Abstract

Pure water jets are not as effective as abrasive water jets for cutting hard materials at large scales. However, for nano-scale cutting, water jet cutting with abrasives is not possible because the abrasive particles are typically in the micron range which is three orders of magnitude larger than sizes to be cut. A pure water jet at the nano-scale might be a viable option. To ensure that it is possible to cut metals using a pure water jet, simulations at millimeter scale are conducted before downscaling to nano-scale. These simulations, using the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) feature of ABAQUS, are conducted using two plate materials, Al 6061 and Ti-6Al-4V, with identical plate dimensions. The water jet is simulated via SPH, while the plate is modeled using standard FE methods. The water velocity and nozzle diameter are chosen to match those commonly used by companies employing water jets. Both the Al 6061 and Ti-6Al-4V simulations achieve convergence. Simulation results for both materials show damage on the surface and material removal. The top layer is removed in both cases as well as damage initiation is observed on the next layer of elements. These numerical results suggest that it is possible to use a pure water jet to cut two different metals. This research lays the foundation to use a pure water jet to conduct nanomachining of hard materials.