Study on abrasive water jet machining of compacted graphite iron on Taguchi method

In this study, the influence of abrasive flow rate (AFR), stand-off distance (SOD), and traverse speed (TS) on surface roughness (SR), kerf width (KW), and kerf taper angle (KTA) during the abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) of 10 mm thick compacted graphite iron (CGI) was investigated. A full-factorial Taguchi L27 orthogonal array was employed to optimize the response parameters in terms of the SR, KW, and KTA. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to evaluate the statistical significance and contribution ratios of each parameter. The results revealed that AFR was the most dominant factor affecting SR and KTA, whereas TS had the greatest influence on KW. In contrast, SOD had only a minor impact on all the response variables. The optimized machining conditions for CGI were determined as 325 g/min AFR, 1.5 mm SOD, and 20 mm/min TS for the minimum SR. The findings highlight that the AWJM process can effectively machine CGI with high precision and minimal thermal damage, offering a viable alternative to conventional methods for difficult-to-machine materials.