The Study on Abrasive Water Jet for Predicting the Cutting Performance and Monitoring the Cutting Situation in the Water

Abstract

The abrasive water jet (AWJ), is to shoot the abrasive mixed with high-pressure water to the material for cutting, can cut most materials, such as metals and concretes in water with long stand-off means the length from the cutting head to the material for cutting. On the other hand, AWJ is required to reduce an amount of the abrasive because it becomes the waste. It is also difficult to monitor the cutting condition by any visual methods such as a TV camera in the water becoming cloudy by both used abrasive and cut metal grit. For solving these issues, some cutting tests were conducted and (1) it was possible to predict an optimal supply rate of abrasive by considering the conservation of momentum between the water jet and the abrasive. (2) It was also possible to judge whether the material could be cut successfully or not by detecting the change in the frequency characteristics of vibration or sound caused during the cutting process.