Investigation on surface roughness and kerf analysis in abrasive water jet machining of silicon carbide

Abstract

Machining silicon carbide (SiC) is challenging due to its brittle and maximum tensile nature. Lapping or laser beam are done with a high cost of manufacturing and low material removal rates. Water abrasive jet cutting is a promising candidate since the machining temperatures and processing force of ceramics are extremely low. Investigation into the abrasive water jet machining of silicon carbide is carried out in the present work.The variations in traverse speed while abrasive water jet cutting of silicon carbide and its effect on the surface roughness and kerf characteristics are studied. Silicon Carbide abrasive material is used as garnet consisting of 80 mesh. The surface roughness was calculated along with the depth of the cut made during the processing.The outcomes demonstrated that the traverse speed is more effective upon the surface roughness and is an important factor that damages the top kerf width and the kerf taper angle.Based on the hardness and thickness of the SiC plate, the taper angle is high, and for a feed rate of 10 mm/min, the surface roughness is low. Less thickness of the SiC plate could have a lower taper angle than with high thickness. The erosive force is provided by abrasive material along with the jet stream.Water abrasive fine jet could effectively machinate silicon carbide ceramic material with a better surface finish accurately. Suitable surface roughness with higher productivity can be attained with medium traverse speed.The effect of process parameters on kerf taper angle and top kerf width in the abrasive water jet machining of silicon carbide is explored, considering surface roughness as an important output parameter.