Abrasive Jet Machining Process Research Articles

GA based approach for process optimisation in modified AJM process with dust absorption

Micro abrasive jet machining process is an advanced micro blasting technique commonly used for cutting and drilling of brittle materials. The machining is based on the brittle fracture produced by the high velocity abrasives. Micro Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM) is capable of material removal at micro scale, but at the same time the expelled abrasives can cause environmental hazards. Inhaling of these abrasives can cause various health problems to the person operating the setup. Current work mainly focuses on how the behavior of machining changes by incorporating a liquid film during AJM process. Experiments are conducted by varying input parameters such as mass flow rate, standoff distance, motor speed and liquid film thickness. The corresponding responses in the output parameters such as Material Removal Rate, Radial Overcut and Area of Frosted Zone are evaluated. The process parameters are optimized using Genetic Algorithm (GA) in current work.

Numerical and experimental investigations on the effect of particle properties on the erosion behavior of aluminum alloy during abrasive air jet machining process

Numerical and experimental investigations on the effect of particle properties on the erosion behavior of aluminum alloy during abrasive air jet machining process

Investigation of Abrasive Aqua Jet Hole Making (AAJHM) parameters using desirability analysis on Inconel-625 space alloy

Inconel-625 is one of the high-strength space alloys with wide applications in aerospace industries and corrosion resistance environments. The applications of Inconel-625 material require blind holes with adequate quality characteristics. In the conventional method, the hole-making on Inconel-625 is difficult due to its mechanical behaviour. The abrasive aqua jet machining process can cut hard and brittle materials among various unconventional machining processes. This work proposes to determine the ideal values of process parameters to generate quality holes on Inconel-625 space alloy by optimizing the abrasive aqua jet hole-making process parameters using a desirability analysis. Abrasive jet pressure (AJP), gap distance (Gdi), traverse speed (Tspeed), and abrasive mixture (Abrmix) of garnet and silicon carbide were identified as potential process variables. The quality hole surface is discussed through surface roughness (SR), erosion rate (Er), circularity error (CI), and cylindricity error (CY). The experimental investigation discloses that SR, CI, and CY decreased by 27.35 %, 56.23 %, and 42.56 %, and Er increased by 32.83 % when the AJP reached its higher value of 300 MPa. According to desirability analysis, the optimal level of machining parameters for numerous solutions is AJP = 300 MPa, Gdi = 1 mm, Tspeed = 96 mm/min, and Abrmix = 100%SiC (AJP-2, Gdi-2, Tspeed-1, Abrmix-2). The ANOVA investigation revealed that AJP was the most contributed parameter, trailed by Abrmix as 100%SiC. SEM and 3D images were used to analyze the surface topography of the hole surface of Inconel-625.

Literature Review on Abrasive Jet Machining - Past and Present

Abrasive jet machining is very simple and low cost technique in which different materials (hard, brittle, etc.) will be machined. This is low budget and very effective conventional machining process. It has many advantages like high machining versatility, less stress on specimen, high machining process flexibility, no heat distortion during the process and low cutting forces on edges as compared to the other non-conventional technologies. This review paper give insight of AJM from beginning to current status as well as latest development in abrasive jet machining process

A Proposed Modification to the JAYA Optimization Algorithm - Application to an Abrasive Water Suspension Jet Machining Process

Optimization plays a vital role in the application of the Industry 4.0 features in the manufacturing sector. Several optimization techniques are in use to date and immensely benefit the user. JAYA is a metaheuristic optimization method that doesn’t require any algorithm-specific parameters. This algorithm has the disadvantage of sometimes getting locked at local optima. This article offers a Modified-JAYA (ModJAYA) algorithm that incorporates the concept of ‘diversity’ into the JAYA algorithm to address the above-mentioned problem. It also hastens the entry of elite solution candidates from diverse solution space. The proposed algorithm ModJAYA is tested on two standard benchmark functions. It is then applied to an Abrasive Water Suspension Jet (AWSJ) machining process to optimize the process parameters. The effectiveness of the ModJAYA algorithm is compared with that of the JAYA algorithm and verified with that of the PSO algorithm. The ModJAYA algorithm outperformed JAYA and PSO algorithms by taking the least mean number of generations for convergence.

Improvement of process repeatability and resolution in abrasive air jet machining via viscous slurry entrainment

The unsteady powder mass flowrate of the available feeding systems and the bad control of the areas being eroded have been often noticed in the abrasive air jet machining process. In addition to the delivery of dry powder, the powder can be evenly mixed with liquid to form a slurry, and then sent to the mixing chamber of an air jet machine; i.e., multiphase jet machining (MJM) was proposed in this paper. The method whereby using the viscous water to suspend the abrasives was found to enhance the stability of powder mass flowrate, thereby decreasing the fluctuation in the machining depth. Whereafter, five types of liquid-based slurries were prepared and their effects on the jet erosion zone were investigated. It was found that the control of the erosion zone was improved to varying degrees when the abrasives were transported into the air jet by viscous liquid as the carrier fluid due to the two roles: reducing the occurrence of third and/or second particle impacts; inducing a viscous boundary layer that could reduce the negative effect of the divergence of jet beam and particle rebounding. In particular, the use of an oil-based slurry could completely eliminate the unwanted frosted zone around the machined features. CFD simulations were used to understand the mechanisms causing these effects. Overall, it is shown that the abrasive air jets can be designed to have a good resolution, so it is feasible to mill or polish surface without the need for a mask to define the edges.

Abrasive Jet Machining of Incense Stick Ash Filled Luffa-Human Hair Based Sustainable Bio-composite Using Taguchi Based GRA

ABSTRACT In this research, a new class of partially biodegradable epoxy-based sustainable bio-composite is developed in house by using blend of luffa cylindrica (LC) and short human hair (SHH) as fiber and diverse weight proportions (0, 5, 10,15 and 20 wt.%) of incense stick ash (ISA) as filler through the conventional hand lay-up method. The presently developed hybrid natural fiber composites are characterized for their density and porosity and subsequently, investigated for their machinability through abrasive jet machining (AJM) process. Two grits of silicone carbide (SiC, 300 µm and 600 µm) and combination of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and glass powder (90 µm) are used as the abrasives. The material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness (Ra) of the machined surface are acquired according to Taguchi design of experiment. The significance of the control factors (type of composite, gas pressure, standoff distance and type of abrasive) is identified through ANOVA and ideal factor setting for optimum individual responses are established. Moreover, simultaneous optimization of multi performance characteristics is also attempted through Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) method. The outcomes from the confirmation runs showed an improvement in the predicted optimal machining parameters for individual as well as the multiple performance characteristic in AJM of the newly developed ISA filled LC-SHH fiber polymer composite.

Sustainable solution to low-cost alternative abrasive from electric ceramic insulator waste for use in abrasive water jet machining

Increasing demand and resource overuse has prompted the exploration of spent secondary materials as a primary raw material for a variety of applications, leading to a more sustainable environment. Spent electric grid ceramic insulator, one of the waste materials of ceramic industry, has a good hardness and strength. It can be reused as value-added material in the Abrasive Water Jet Machining (AWJM) industry. The present work deals with the generation of cost-effective replacement material for abrasive water jet machining from electric insulator rejects (EIR). Mechanical crushing method is opted to generate the abrasive grit for the machining process. Grit generation pattern and the friability of the electric insulator rejects were determined experimentally. The results indicate that the friability of the processed electric insulator rejects is comparable with the commercially available garnet abrasive. Geometric parameters such as sphericity, elongation ratio, and shape factor for the processed electric insulator rejects were studied using scanning electron microscopy. The machining performance indicators for standard aluminium material such as volume of material removal, kerf angle, surface roughness, and cutting width were measured for electric insulator rejects and compared with existing garnet abrasive grain. The experimental results of the newly generated electric insulator reject abrasive were compared with the performance indicators of the garnet abrasive. The observed deviation was lower proving that it can be used as an alternative abrasive in the abrasive jet machining process. Cost analysis and recycling ability predict the economical usability of the newly generated abrasives.

Feasibility of using wet abrasive jet machining to produce flat and crack-free micro-textures on reaction bonded silicon carbide

Reaction-bonded silicon carbide (RB-SiC) is a composite ceramic that comprises of hard SiC grains and brittle Si matrix. Surface texture with well machining qualities, in particular, is difficult to be fabricated on RB-SiC in conventional machining conditions since the removal of material inevitably induces some unexpected surface defects. In this paper, the feasibility of using a wet abrasive jet machining process (wet AJM) to produce smooth and crack-free micro-features on RB-SiC was investigated. Three commercial abrasives were employed to test the machining responses. The hardness of abrasive was found to be critical and dominate the machinability of RB-SiC. The hardest synthetic diamond (SD) abrasive could crush the SiC grains, thereby providing the highest machining efficiency and a relatively smooth face. The relatively soft abrasives, including aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) and green SiC, tend to break or rebound during the impact. After removing the Si matrix, SiC grains would be exposed and be to some degree protective of the target; therefore, the machined texture was shallow and rough. Since the particles in the lateral flow rolled freely, there were no obvious cracks on the inner surface of the machined texture compared to the machining without water. The variation of the machining profile had an inherent correlation to the mask thickness, nozzle motion speed and particle size. With these optimized parameters, it is feasible to use the wet AJM to fabricate complex micro-structural arrays on RB-SiC with good precision and surface quality.

Application of grey fuzzy logic in abrasive jet machining process

Application of grey fuzzy logic in abrasive jet machining process

Experimental investigation of µ-abrasive jet machining with dust collection mechanism

Micro abrasive jet machining process is an advanced machining process used for the production of micro holes, micro channels and machining of different type of brittle materials. It is a non contact type machining process, were highly pressurized air and abrasive particles are mixed using a mixing chamber and directed towards the work piece. The material is removed by means of mechanical erosion. During the machining time, there are lot of abrasive particles expelled out and it may cause environmental pollution. To avoid this problem an abrasive dust collector mechanism with liquid film is used in the current work. In this experiment the work piece is placed in the liquid chamber and three input process parameters such as mass flow rate, standoff distance, motor speed and there effects on the output responses such as material removal rate, radial overcut and area of frosted zone is discussed. The process parameters are optimized using Taguchi method and utility concept in Minitab statistical software.

Performance evaluation of newly designed nozzle on abrasive jet machining characteristics of laminated composites

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to machine the composites at lower machining time with higher accuracy without causing delamination.Design/methodology/approachAbrasive jet machining is the technology appropriate for machining composite materials to obtain good dimensional accuracy without causing de-lamination. The central composite design was followed in deciding the number of experiments to be carried out.FindingsThe influence of abrasive jet machining process parameters on machining time, material removal rate (MRR) and kerf characteristics were investigated. The experimental results proved the newly designed internal threaded nozzle increased MRR, thereby reducing the machining time.Originality/valueMachining of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) is one of the challenging tasks given its non-linear and in-homogeneous properties. In this investigation, newly developed threaded and unthreaded nozzles in machining were used for making holes on the GFRP composites.

Investigation on effect of process parameters in abrasive Jet Machining process using full factorial design

Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM) process is one of the unconventional machining process used to cut various materials including soft and hard materials. Alumina and silica are majorly used as abrasive materials due to its chemical and abrasion resistance. In this paper, abandoned Ceramic Sanitary Ware (CSW) wastes are used as abrasive materials in AJM process. Since, CSW wastes contain major amount of alumina and silica compositions. Initially, ball milling machining process is carried out to convert CSW wastes into micro particles. Then, sieving is performed to segregate the particles with its size. Stand of distance, pressure and particle size are considered as most influencing parameters in AJM process. Hence, Full Factorial design is utilized for three process parameters and three levels. The nozzle with a mixing chamber is designed and fabricated to perform drilling operation in the glass work piece. L27 experiments are carried out to evaluate Material Removal Rate (MRR) and Hole Diameter (HD) during drilling process of glass work piece. Further, the effect of each process parameters on MRR and HD is validated. From the analysis, it is found that pressure is most influencing parameters affecting MRR whereas HD greatly depends on particle size.

Augmenting the design of a nozzle used in abrasive jet machining process with computational fluid dynamics

The nozzle is an important part that affects the performance of the abrasive jet machining. It is a micromachining process, where the target material is being eroded by the effect of a high-speed continuous flow of abrasive particles, which are move out from a nozzle. A nozzle is required to carry out the particles to remove the material with the help of a large velocity of the microjet. The common nozzle shape presently used in this process is a rectangle and circular shape, which gives a low flow rate and further demands to reduce the material removal rate (MRR). In this work, three different geometrical types of nozzles: (i) convergent nozzle (25 mm) length, (ii) convergent nozzle (50 mm) length, (iii) modified convergent nozzle has been designed. The simulations of the flow have been analyzed using computational fluid dynamics. The velocity and pressure of the particles inside the nozzle were compared. The results show the improvements in the modified convergent nozzle are about 42.84 m/s of velocity and the pressure inside the nozzle tip is about 994424.5 Pa. Due to the swirl flow in a modified convergent nozzle, the high material removal rate is achieved.

Sensitivity analysis of abrasive air-jet machining parameters on machinability of carbon and glass fiber reinforced hybrid composites

Carbon and glass fiber reinforced epoxy polymer hybrid composites facilitate to tailor the mechanical properties of the composites. However, the machining of hybrid fiber reinforced polymer composite is a challenge by conventional processes due to the different types of fiber reinforcements and anisotropic nature of composites. Researchers and scientists have evaluated the machinability of plain or single fiber reinforced polymer composites through abrasive water jet machining and abrasive air jet machining. Therefore, the present investigation emphasizes on the development of symmetrical hybrid composites, evaluation of mechanical properties and machining of the hybrid composites through abrasive air jet machining (AAJM). There are three types of hybrid composites such as C2G3]S, [CG3C]S and [CG2CG]S along with plain glass ([G]10) and carbon ([C]10) fiber reinforced polymer composites fabricated by hand lay-up technique. It is observed that the [CG2CG]S type hybrid composite has the optimum tensile and flexural strength as compared to other composites. Hence, [CG2CG]S type hybrid composites along with plain glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites was considered for the machinability study. The sensitivity of AAJM process parameters on material removal rate (MRR), depth of cut (DOC) and surface roughness (Ra) are investigated and optimized through response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum machining process output predicted by the RSM model for [CG2CG]S type hybrid composite is MRR = 3.26 × 10−3 g/sec, DOC = 1.48 mm and surface roughness (Ra) = 1.48 μm. The predicted model results compared with the experimental values and found a good agreement between them. The surface morphology of the drilled composite sample is investigated under scanning electron microscope. It is observed that the surface damage of the drilled surface of the composites is minimal. Thus, the abrasive air jet machining process can be employed for drilling of polymer matrix composites to overcome the conventional machining issues.

Performance Evaluation of Recently Developed New Process HAJM during Machining Hardstone Quartz Using Hot Silicon Carbide Abrasives: an Experimental Investigation and Sustainability Assessment

The better machining capabilities of abrasive jet machining characterized by the absence of thermal distortion make it highly competitive with other cutting processes employing plasma and lasers. In this article, an attempt has been made to combine hot abrasives and compressed air to form a hot abrasive air jet. Hot abrasive jet machining (HAJM) can be applied to various operations such as drilling, surface etching, grooving and micro finishing on the glass and ceramics. This research work involved in cutting performance evaluation of hot abrasive jet machining (HAJM) process and machinability investigation of hardstone quartz concerning surface roughness, taper angle, and material removal rate. Three levels each for air pressure, stand-off distance, and abrasive temperature were selected as control parameters. Experimental results in accordance of Box-Behnken’s design of experiments are analyzed by employing analysis of variance (ANOVA) and statistical technique (here, desirability function analysis of RSM) followed by computational approach (here, genetic algorithm) for experimental investigation, predictive modeling, and multi-response optimization, respectively. Additionally, the effectiveness of proposed two multi-objective optimization techniques are evaluated by confirmation test. Thereafter, the mechanism of material removal has been discussed using a non-contact three-dimensional surface measurement system and scanning electron microscopy images. Finally, a novel approach has been proposed for cost saving economic analysis and sustainability assessment in order to rationalize the operational feasibility and usefulness of hot abrasives in AJM process with an intention to raise the awareness in the manufacturing industry. Analysis of experimental findings revealed that, application of hot abrasives in AJM process have shown an attention in enhancing the cutting performance for material removal. The statistical evaluation and optimization results in this study can contribute to the evaluation of HAJM machinability of hardstone quartz.

Machining and Characterization of Multidirectional Hybrid Silica Glass Fiber Reinforced Composite Laminates Using Abrasive Jet Machining

Machining of multidirectional Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Composite (HFRC) is a challenging task because of defects like matrix cracking, fiber pullouts, delamination, burr formation, and heat affected zones. The current study is focused on machining and characterization of in-house fabricated HFRC made of carbon and silica glass fiber using Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM). Machining of holes in fabricated multidirectional HFRC has been carried out using a set of input machining parameters -air pressure, abrasive grit size, and standoff distance. The output responses selected for the experiment are material removal rate, circularity, Depth Averaged Radial Overcut (DAROC), Taper Angle (TA), and Surface Roughness (Ra.) A novel technique has been contrived for measuring DAROC by using Computerized Tomography images. At the same time, the microstructure, surface roughness, and burr height of the machined samples are carried out using High-resolution Scanning Electron Microscope (HRSEM) images and 3D-profilometer images. Subsequently, the machining parameters are optimized using multi-objective GRA to strike a balance between the output parameters. The obtained results indicated the absence of defects like delamination, burr formation, heat affected zones in the machined samples. The outcome of the experiment corroborates the application suitability of the AJM process for machining multidirectional HFRC used in industrial and commercial products.

Re-use of abandoned sanitary ware waste as abrasive particles for abrasive jet machine

In recent years, the growth in the machinery industries has emerged to produce the ceramic components which are non-bio degradable wastes. In this paper, the abrasive particles are produced through a rehash of ceramic sanitary ware wastes to machine the glass material in the abrasive jet machining process. Beforehand, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is performed on the nozzle to evaluate the flow velocity at the corresponding pressure distributions. It results that the velocity of 810 m/s is achieved at the outlet of the nozzle. The nozzle is designed based on the consequent results of flow analysis. Further, the sanitary ware wastes from washbasin urinals, sinks, bathtubs, toilets, etc are collected and renewed to the form of abrasive particles using sieving and segregation processes. The mixing chamber is fabricated and abrasive particles, dry air is made to mix in the mixing chamber. Then mixed particles are made to flow out to the working chamber through the outlet opening. The high jet velocity of the air and abrasive particle mixture has impinged through a convergent nozzle for machining the glass workpiece in the abrasive jet machining process. Moreover, the performance characteristics of abrasive particles in the abrasive jet machining process are evaluated.

Machining of borosilicate glass using Normal-Pressurized-Bed and Fluidized-bed AJM set ups

Hard and brittle materials like glass, quartz and composites can be effectively and economically machined, drilled, deburred, and surface etched with the most prominent abrasive jet machining (AJM) process to achieve good surface quality and higher material removal. This experimental work provides a comparative study of drilling of rectangular glass pieces with normal pressurized bed (NPB) and fluidized bed (FB) AJM setups. The normal pressurized bed is first fabricated and installed to conduct the fifteen number of experiments according to the chosen response surface methodology (RSM) of design of experiments (DOE). Then the fluidized bed mixing chamber AJM setup is designed and fabricated to perform the same number of experiments with the same input parameters for making a comparative study. The surface crack mechanism in both the cases is investigated from the SEM micrographs.

Experimental Investigation and Parametric Optimization in Abrasive Jet Machining on NICKEL 233 Alloy Using WASPAS

Decision of finest machining parameters is very essential factors in any processing of machined parts. This article presents a multi-objective optimization technique, based on WASPAS method toward optimize the machining parameters in abrasive jet machining (AJM) process: pressure, nozzle to tip distance (NTD), and average grain diameter on NICKEL 233 alloy. Three conflicting objectives, Material Removal Rate (MRR), surface roughness (Ra) and taper angle (Ta) are simultaneously considered. The proposed technique weighted aggregated product sum assessment technique is investigation of parametric optimization on AJM process. Its outcome using tool in any ranges of responses in AJM process is the optimal setting of parameters are determined through experiments illustrated. Broad usage of Aerospace industries for NICKEL 233, generating a hole of the machining data first time in this work using AJM will be useful.