Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM)

Dr. N. VENKAIAH
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
NIT Warangal 506 004

Disclaimer
The content presented here is not entirely my own. Some portions are taken from
different sources with great regard. This content is solely for class room teaching and
not for any commercial use.

“A sacred thing is timely silence, and better than any

speech.”
- Plutarch
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AJM - Setup

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 AJM - Working
 A gas is supplied at high pressures
 In the mixing chamber abrasive particles are present and vibrated
at 50 Hz.
 (Gas + abrasives) pass at high speed through a nozzle directed
over the area to be machined.
 High velocity abrasive particles remove the work material by
micro-cutting action as well as brittle fracture.
 Particles removed are called debris and they will be flushed away
by the carrier gas.

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 AJM – Working …
 The erosion of material by chipping action is convenient in those
materials that are hard and brittle.
 Nozzle movement over the workpiece – manual or automatic
 Abrasive powders are not reused. Because, contaminations and
worn grits will reduce the machining rate (MRR). Shape of the
abrasives also changes.
 Masks of copper, glass or rubber can be used to concentrate the
jet stream of abrasives to a confined area on the workpiece.
 Dust collector must be incorporated to protect the environment.

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 Material Removal

 Abrasive particles from the nozzle follow parallel paths for a short
distance and then the abrasive jet flares outward like a cone.
 When the sharp-edged abrasive particles hit a brittle and fragile
material at high speed, tiny brittle fractures are created from which
small particles dislodge.

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 AJM – Abrasives
 Abrasive particles must be hard, highly tough and should have
sharp edges
 Material – Al2O3, SiC, garnet, olivine, silica sand
 Shape – irregular/spherical
 Size – 10 ~ 50 μm (smaller size -> finishing, bigger size -> cutting.)
 Mass flow rate – 2 ~ 20 g/min
 The mass flow rate of abrasive entering the chamber depends on
the amplitude of vibration of the sieve and its frequency.
 Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and silicon carbide (SiC) powders are used
for heavy cleaning, cutting and de-burring.
 Magnesium carbonate – light cleaning and etching
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AJM – Abrasives …
Recommended use of abrasives

Surface roughness achievable

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 Process Parameters
MRR, machining accuracy, surface roughness and nozzle wear are
influenced by
Carrier gas:
•Composition – Air, CO2, N2
•Density
•Velocity
•Pressure
•Flow rate
Abrasive Jet
•Velocity
•Mixing ratio – mass flow ratio of abrasive to gas
•Stand-off distance
•Impingement Angle
Nozzle:
•Material – WC / sapphire
•Diameter 8
Process Parameters …

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 Process Parameters …
Nozzle Tip Distance

Effect of NTD on Material removal

As NTD increases, velocity of the
abrasives impinging on the work surface
increases due to their acceleration after
they leave the nozzle. This increases
the MRR.
The larger the NTD, the poorer is the
quality and accuracy of the cut as the jet
flares out.

With further increase in the NTD,

velocity reduces due to the drag of the
atmosphere and as a result MRR
decreases. 10
 Material Removal Rate
 Material or Volumetric Removal Rate (MRR or VRR) is given by the
formula

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 Material Removal Rate …
 Typical MRR
o 16.4 mm3/min when cutting glass
o 1.6 to 4.1 mm3/min for metals
o For harder ceramics, cutting rates are about 50 percent higher
than those for glass – 24.6 mm3/min.
 The minimum width of cut can be 0.13 mm.

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Process Characteristics

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 Advantages
 AJM is a highly flexible process: abrasive media is carried by a flexible
hose, which can reach out to difficult and internal regions.
 Because AJM is a cool machining process, it is best suited for machining
brittle and heat-sensitive materials like glass, quartz, sapphire, and
ceramics.
 Used for machining super-alloys and refractory materials.
 It is not reactive with any workpiece material.
 Intricate parts and sharp corners can be machined.
 Machined materials do not experience hardening.
 Material utilization is high.
 It can machine thin materials.

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 Limitations
 Low MRR
 Nozzle wear rate is high.
 The tapering effect due to flaring of the jet.
 The abrasives may get embedded in the work surface.
 Poor machining accuracy.
 Environmental/Noise pollution: Silica dust may be a health hazard.
Suitable dust-collecting systems should be provided.
 The process is limited to brittle and hard materials. Soft materials can’t
be machined by the process.
 Ordinary shop air should be filtered to remove moisture and oil.

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 Applications
 For drilling holes of intricate shapes in hard and brittle materials
 For machining fragile and heat sensitive materials
 For de-burring, cleaning, polishing and etching.
 Micro-machining of brittle materials.
 Frosting glass and trimming of circuit boards, hybrid circuit resistors,
capacitors, silicon, and gallium.
 Cleaning and dressing the grinding wheels which are used for glass.
 Normally used as a finishing process rather than cutting process

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 AJM - Summary
 Mechanics - brittle fracture by impinging abrasive grains at high speed.
 Media - Air, CO2
 Abrasives: Al2O3, SiC, 0.025 mm diameter, 2-20 g/min, Not reused.
 Velocity = 150-300 m/sec.
 Pressure = 2 to 10 atm.
 Nozzle - WC, sapphire; orifice 0.05-0.2 mm2, life 12-300 hr, SOD 0.25-75
mm.
 Critical parameters - abrasive flow rate and velocity, SOD, abrasive grain size
and jet inclination.
 Materials application - hard and brittle metals, alloys, and nonmetallic
materials (e.g., germanium, silicon, glass, ceramics, and mica).
 Shape (job) application - drilling, cutting, deburring, etching, cleaning.
 Limitations - low metal removal rate (15 mm3/min), embedding of abrasive in
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workpiece, tapering of drilled holes, possibility of stray abrasive action.
Typical Part Geometries

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 Quiz
1. Material removal takes place in AJM due to
(a) electrochemical action
(b) mechanical impact
(c) fatigue failure of the material
(d) sparking on impact

Ans. (b)

2. AJM nozzles are made of

(a) low carbon steel
(b) HSS
(c) WC
(d) Stainless steel

Ans. (c)

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