FLOW VISUALIZATION STUDY OF THE MACROMECHANICS OF ABRASIVE-WATERJET TURNING

This paper reports the results of a visualization study conducted to develop further understanding of the macromechanics of the abrasive-waterjet-turning process. The paper describes details of the experiments and visualization results and their implications to the abrasive-waterjet-turning process. A high-speed movie camera was used to record the experiments for the entry and steady-state stages of the turning operation. The study demonstrates that the material removal takes place on the 'face' of the workpiece and that the process involves a mechanism of step formation and removal similar to that of linear cutting with an abrasive waterjet. Moreover, the observations suggest that the abrasive waterjet does not undergo any significant radial deflection in the region where material removal takes place.