DefinePK

Abstract

Abrasive waterjet has been used to cut both ferrous and non-ferrous materials. The process is eco-friendly and creates minimal distortion of workpiece. The present work reports the analysis of surface roughness and kerf angle in abrasive water jet machining of Al7075/Al2O3 composite. Taguchis L9 orthogonal array is used for conducting the machining experiments with two replications. The process parameters like water jet pressure, traverse rate, stand-off and abrasive flow rate are varied in three levels. The quality characteristics are studied and grey incidence method is applied to find out the optimal process parameters for better values of responses. Grey relational grade is employed as the quality index and analysis of variance is also performed to find the contribution of individual parameters in affecting the responses. The predicted optimal conditions are validated using proper machining trials during which noteworthy improvements are seen in kerf angle (30.8%) and surface roughness (14.32%).