Using the acoustic sound pressure level for quality prediction of surfaces created by abrasive waterjet

The paper deals with an innovative way of cutting materials by abrasive waterjet with a view to increase its quality. In the research work, we were concerned with the search for a relationship between surface roughness and noise in the abrasive waterjet cutting process. Innovation lies in the use of negative characteristic of the technology—noise, which is a carrier of information about the quality of cutting process. In this way, the noise can be positively used in the on-line control of the technological process. The final result is a project for control of the process of abrasive waterjet cutting of materials by means of feedback according to the on-line measurement of acoustic pressure level Laeq (dB). Instantaneous information about the state of cut according to the instantaneous value of Laeq amplitude allows the automatic regulation of traverse speed of cutting head vp (mm.min−1), which is, together with the pressure p (MPa), one of the most important technological factors of control of production technology from the point of view of economic indicators and qualitative indicators of a semiproduct. The proposed model has been experimentally verified and was simulated in Matlab.