AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON ABRASIVE WATERJET MACHINING THROUGH DESIGN OF EXPERIMENT

10th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference - SGEM2010, www.sgem.org, SGEM2010 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN 10: 954-91818-1-2, June 20-26, 2010, Vol. 1, 365-372 pp

ABSTRACT

Abrasive waterjet technology (AWJ) is one of the fastest growing machining processes.
It is environmentally friendly, can machine almost any engineering materials. It has
received considerable attention from various industries due to its beneficial
characteristics. Compared with traditional and most non traditional machining
technologies, AWJ exhibits a high potential in the field of the shape machining of hard
or brittle materials such as ceramics, glass and rocks. The present study investigates the
machinability of granite by abrasive waterjet technology. The target parameters are cut
depth and cutting wear zone that are inherent to AWJ. The experimental studies were
carried out on the basis of Taguchi orthogonal array and results were evaluated with
respect to mean of means responses. As a result of the study, it is determined that
abrasive waterjet technology can be used for machinability of granite for especially
decorative production owing to enabling the shape cutting.

Keywords: Abrasive waterjet, Machinability of granite, Cut depth