Influence of the process conditions on the diameter of cylindrical holes produced by abrasive water jet cutting

Abstract

This paper discusses experimental results concerning the geometric accuracy of cylindrical holes made in EN AW-2007 aluminum alloy by a high-pressure jet of water containing almandine garnet as an abrasive substance. The tests were conducted according to a three-level Box-Behnken design using an APW 2010BB water jet cutting machine. Changes in the input parameters during high-pressure abrasive water jet cutting resulted in the occurrence of geometric inaccuracies. The input variables were the cutting speed, the distance between the abrasive water jet nozzle and the workpiece, and the abrasive mass flow rate. The values of the correlation coefficient confirmed that the greatest influence of the cylindrical holes had cutting speed.