The fundamental mechanisms of material removal by fluidjet machining

Abstract

The fundamental mechanisms of material removal by fluidjet machining have been theoretically and experimentally investigated as a potential method for dismantling nuclear weapons with efficiency and safety. Preliminary experiments and analyses have revealed that at small standoff distances between the nozzle exit and the target workpiece there is no mass removal from the workpiece, but that far from the nozzle there exists an optimum standoff distance at which the jet impact removes mass from the workpiece at a maximum rate. Such results suggest a mass-removal process due to the droplets and ligaments impinging on the material that cause sudden pressure increases in the impact regions. This proposed material-removal mechanism has been addressed theoretically by considering a series of multiple droplet impacts on a material. The calculated results display a series of pressure peaks at the target surface as each of these droplets strikes the material, supporting the plausibility of the proposed mass-removal scenario at the optimum standoff distance. Although plausible further experiments and analyses are needed to verify the proposed jet-induced mass removal mechanism.