This research looks into how abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) can be used on
carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials, specifically how the kerf
characteristics change with respect to change in process parameters. We
carefully looked into four important process parameters: stand-off distance
(SOD), water pressure (WP), traverse rate (TR), and abrasive mass flow rate
(AMFR). The results showed that as SOD goes up, the kerf taper angle goes up
because of jet dispersion, but as WP goes up, the angle goes down because jet
kinetic energy goes up. The TR was directly related to the kerf taper angle, but
it made the process less stable. The kerf drop angle was not greatly changed by
AMFR. When it came to kerf top width, SOD made it wider, WP made it narrower, TR
made it narrower, and AMFR made it a little wider. When the settings (SOD: 1 mm,
WP: 210 MPa, TR: 150 mm/min, AMFR: 200 g/min) were optimized, the kerf taper
angle and kerf top width were lowered. This improved the accuracy of the
measurements and cut down on material waste in CFRP composite machining. These
results make it clear how important parameter selection is in precision
cutting.
