The impact of machining parameters on the surface roughness and depth of cut while cutting Inconel 718 super alloy using abrasive water jet

Abstract

Inconel Alloy 718 super alloy was machined using abrasive water jet (AWJ) in this study. Following the cutting process, average surface roughness (Ra µm) and material removal rate (MRR) were investigated and operating parameters were optimized using Taguchi method. Among the machining parameters were pump pressure (PP) (200, 350 MPa), nozzle feed rate (NFR) (5, 105 and 205 mm/min); abrasive flow rate (AFR) (50, 200 and 350 g/min); spindle speed (SS) (25, 50 and 75 RPM) and standoff distance (SOD) (2, 8 and 14 mm). Taguchi L18 (21 x34) orthogonal factorial experiment organization is adopted as experiment design. The effect of parameters on Ra and depth of cut (DoC) was investigated statistically using the outcomes of the variance analysis and S/N rates. As a result of the empirical studies, PP proved to have the highest effect on Ra by 42.35%. On the other hand, NFR proved to have the highest effect on DoC by 72.85%. Increasing SS has improved Ra value while increasing DoC.