HYBRID MACHINING : ABRASIVE WATERJET TECHNOLOGIES USED IN COMBINATION WITH CONVENTIONAL METAL CUTTING

Abrasive Waterjet technology is one of the fastest growing metal cutting technologies. Even so, very little published material is available on hybrid processing where abrasive waterjet cutting is one of two or more metal cutting methods. There is also limited published material on thin-walled components cut with abrasive waterjet technology. This paper makes a comparison of conventional metal cutting methods to the more unconventional abrasive waterjet technique. It will serve as a stepping stone in building knowledge aiding in hybrid machining development. It will show the possibilities and limitations during milling of thin-walled Aluminum components and then compare this to the capabilities of abrasive waterjet cutting the same components. Differences in material removal and revert control as well as in vibrations and force requirements will be reviewed. In addition, the environmental issues will be discussed and it will be determined which of the methods is more sustainable. The paper also includes a large section on process methodology.QC 20171101