Development of an Abrasive Waterjet Kerf Cutting Model for Brittle Materials

The erosion mechanisms in an abrasive waterjet(AWJ) kerf cutting process are studied using scanning electron microscopy. It is concluded that the cutting process is associated with abrasive particle impacts at low incidence angles and that material removal of ceramic target materials is caused by intergranular cracking and plastic flow. An equation to predict the depth of cut is derived by relating the macro material removal rate on the cutting front to the accumulated micro material removal rate by individual abrasive particles. The macro material removal rate is calculated based on a previous study of energy dissipation in the AWJ cutting process. An elasto-plastic model, derived previously for brittle material removal due to low incidence impacts of single particle, is used to evaluate the micro material removal rate. A new material characteristic parameter, called “Erosion Resistance”, is defined based on the equation for depth of cut.