2.

ABRASIVE JET MACHINING

ABRASIVE JET MACHINING
 Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM) uses a stream of fine
grained abrasive mixed with air or some other carrier gas
at high pressure.
 The stream is directed by means of nozzle on to the work
piece.
 Metal removal occurs due to erosion caused by the
abrasive particles impacting the work piece.
FEATURES OF AJM
 Air is generally used as the carrier medium.
 The abrasives come out of the nozzle at considerably
high pressure (several times higher than the atmospheric
pressure) and velocity.
 By controlling the quantity of abrasive flow with the help
of valve arrangements, fine machining and coarse
machining can be achieved.
 Generally suitably machined tungsten carbide and
diamond nozzles are used.

 Nozzle diameters vary from 0.1mm to 1.0 mm depending

on the size of the abrasive particles used and the quantity
of abrasive flow.
FEATURES OF AJM
 During the machining operation the gap kept between the
workpiece and nozzle tip is about 1mm.

 Lesser the quantity of abrasives in the air lesser is the

machining rate.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF AJM PROCESS
 Deburring and polishing plastic, nylon and Teflon
components.

 Cutting thin sectioned fragile components made of glass,

refractories.

 Producing high quality surface.

 Removing glue and paint from paintings and leather

objects.
ADVANTAGES
 It provides cool cutting action; no heat damage occurs to the
delicate work materials.

 Cutting action is shockless, fragile materials can be handled

without breakage.

 The process is characterized by low capital investment and low

power consumption.

 AJM units are easy to operate and maintain

 Process is versatile; can be manually operated; with fixtures the

process can be used in automatic production lines.
DISADVANTAGES
 Application of AJM is restricted to brittle materials
because of lower rates of metal removal attainable in
case of ductile materials.

 Sometimes, parts machined by this process have to

undergo an additional operation of cleaning as there is
possibility of the abrasive grains sticking to the surface.

 The machining accuracy is poor and the nozzle wear rate

is high.
VARIABLES IN AJM
 The variables that influence the rate of metal removal and
accuracy of machining in this process are:

 Carrier gas
 It must not flare excessively when discharged from the nozzle into
the atmosphere.
 The gas should be nontoxic, cheap, easily available and capable of
being dried and cleaned without difficulty.
 The gases that can be used are air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen.
 Air is most widely used owing to easy availability and little cost.
 All abrasive powders supplied by the manufacturers can be run
with clean shop air, provided air filters have been installed in the
air lines.
VARIABLES IN AJM
 Types of abrasives
 The choice of abrasive depends on the type of machining operation, for example,
roughing, finishing, etc., work material and cost.

 The abrasive should have a sharp and irregular shape and fine enough to remain
suspended in the carrier gas and should have excellent flow characteristics.

 The abrasives used for cutting are aluminium oxide and silicon carbide whereas
sodium bicarbonate, dolomite, are used for cleaning, etching, deburring etc.

 Reuse of abrasives is not recommended because not only does its cutting ability
decrease, but contamination also clogs the orifice of the nozzle.
VARIABLES IN AJM
 Grain size
 The rate of metal removal depends on the size of the abrasive grain.

 Finer the grains are less irregular in shape, and hence, posses lesser cutting
ability.
 Finer grains tend to stick to each other and choke the nozzle.

 The most favorable grain sizes range from 10 to 50µ.

 Coarse grains are recommended for cutting, whereas finer grains are useful in
polishing, deburring, etc.
VARIABLES IN AJM
 Work Material
 AJM is recommended for the processing of brittle materials, such as glass,
ceramics, refractories, etc.

 Most of the ductile metals are practically un machinable by AJM.

Stand off Distance(SOD)

 It is defined as the distance between the face of the nozzle and the working
surface of the work.

 SOD has been found to have considerable effect on the rate of metal removal as
well as accuracy.

 A large SOD results in the flaring up of jet which leads to poor accuracy