Understanding Micro-Scratches in Abrasive Waterjet Cutting: Key Insights to Enhance Precision

Abrasive Waterjet (AWJ) cutting has emerged as a go-to solution for high-precision machining across industries due to its ability to cut without heat, tool wear, or residual stress. However, the presence of surface defects, such as striations and scratches, can impact the finish quality. A recent study published in Scientific Reports delves into the distribution patterns of micro-scratches in AWJ cutting surfaces, shedding light on how these microscopic features form and their effect on overall cutting accuracy.

Key Findings on Cutting Surface Regions

The research highlights that AWJ cutting sections can be divided into three distinct regions:

1. Initial Region: Characterized by higher roughness due to unstable material removal as the jet first contacts the workpiece.
2. Smooth Region: Exhibits the best surface quality with stable, consistent material removal.
3. Rough Region: Appears at greater depths where jet energy decreases, leading to irregular material removal and deeper scratches.

Surface roughness increases significantly in the rough region, while the smooth region delivers optimal results.

The Behavior of Micro-Scratches

Researchers observed that micro-scratches—caused by high-speed abrasive particles impacting the material—are influenced by their position on the cutting section and the traverse speed of the jet. The findings showed:

•
Scratch Length: Increases most noticeably with cutting depth and is highly sensitive to position (89.19% influence).
•
Scratch Width: Also increases but to a lesser extent, impacted primarily by position (81.13%).
•
Scratch Depth: Influenced by both position (41.12%) and traverse speed (38.10%).

Surprisingly, traverse speed had a minimal effect on scratch length and width, though reducing it led to improved surface quality overall.

Why It Matters for Precision

These insights provide manufacturers with a better understanding of how AWJ parameters impact surface quality. For applications requiring high-precision finishes, like aerospace or medical machining, adjusting cutting depths and traverse speeds is crucial to minimising defects.

The study also introduces a “quality factor” for evaluating scratch dimensions, offering a new method for assessing AWJ cutting accuracy.

TMC Waterjet’s Take

At TMC Waterjet, we continuously strive to enhance cutting precision by staying informed about the latest research. Understanding micro-scratch behaviour helps us refine AWJ processes to deliver smooth, high-quality finishes for even the most demanding applications.

By optimizing jet parameters and applying insights from cutting-edge studies, we ensure our clients receive superior results, every time.