EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF ABRASIVE WATER JET MACHINING OF KEVLAR EPOXY COMPOSITE

Abstract

The present paper describes an experimental study of abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) of Kevlar epoxy composite. Influence of process parameters namely stand-off distance, water pressure, traverse speed and abrasive mass flow rate on surface roughness and kerf taper is investigated. Taguchi orthogonal approach is applied to plan the design of experiments; and subsequent analysis of experimental data is done using analysis of variance (ANOVA). It is found that water pressure and traverse speed are most significant parameters followed by stand-off distance and abrasive mass flow rate influencing surface roughness and kerf taper. With increase in water pressure and decrease in traverse speed, kerf taper and surface roughness decreases.