Machining of D2 heat treated steel using Abrasive Water Jet: The effect of standoff distance and feed rate on kerf width and surface roughness

This paper discusses the machining of D2 heat treated steel using Abrasive Water Jet (AWJ). D2 steel is an alloy of high-carbon, high-chromium, air-hardened steel, which has high wear resistance and toughness, and is generally used in tool and die making. The experimental investigation has been carried out to find the effect of process parameters such as standoff distance and the feed rate on the kerf width and on the surface roughness (Ra) value of the kerf generated by AWJ. It has been observed that, in single pass machining, for the same increase in standoff distance, the top kerf width increases (≈18%) whereas the bottom kerf width decreases (≈25%). The results also show that, the increase in standoff distance and feed rate increases the surface roughness (Ra) value. However, in multi-pass (two) machining, it has been observed that, at the same feed rate the difference between top and bottom kerf widths is considerably less (≈27%) which results in the reduction of kerf taper, also similar reduction is observed in surface roughness (Ra) value.