Characterization of Abrasion and Erosion Mechanisms during Abrasive Waterjet Machining of Hard Metals

International audienceAbrasive water jet machining is a process that removes material using sand and water. This versatile process uses a high-pressure water jet loaded with abrasive particles of mineral origin. It allows the machining of all materials and is particularly suitable for machining or stripping applications on hard metal sheets. Due to a local action, the abrasive water jet limits heating and deformation. During machining, the removal of material occurs abrasion and erosion [1]. The identification of the respective importance of this abrasion and this erosion conditions the precision of the modeling of the machined depth. In this study, these mechanisms are presented and characterized for machining on 6mm thickness TiAl6V titanium alloys sheets with or without inclination of the jet. It is possible to model an elementary passage and it allows predicting the pocket bottom profile obtained after a succession of passages. During machining, two mechanisms appear. Abrasion occurs when machining an elementary pass. Erosion will characterize the effect of repetition of passages. The analysis of the machined profiles makes it possible to characterize the influence of the abrasion mechanism and abrasion mechanism. The variation of the coefficients associated with these mechanisms can be characterized as a function of the angle of inclination of the jet.Keywords: Abrasive water jet machining, Material removal mechanism, Abrasion, Erosion, Titanium alloy, Abrasive particle