Current Research and Development in Abrasive Water Jet Machining (AWJM): A Review

Abrasive Water jet machining (AWJM) is a non-conventional manufacturing process, where material is removed from the work piece by impact erosion of pressurized high velocity water stream mixed with high velocity grit abrasives on a work piece. There are so many process parameters which affect the quality of machined surface cut by AWJM. But, the traverse speed, hydraulic pressure, stand-off distance, abrasive flow rate and type of abrasive are important. However, the important performance measures in AWJM are Material Removal Rate (MRR), Surface Roughness (SR), Kerf width, Depth of cut. This paper reviews the research work carried out from the inception to the development of AWJM within past few years. It reports on the AWJM research relating to performance measures improvement, monitoring and process control, process variables optimization. A wide range of AWJM industrial applications for variety of materials are reported with variations. The paper also discusses the future trend of research work in the area of AWJM.