Energy dissipation control in hydro-abrasive machining using quantitative acoustic emission

The efficiency and product quality of hydro-abrasive machining (HAM) could be considerably improved if the energy dissipation phenomenon of the jet-like tool during the material removal is clearly understood. An on-line technique for quantifying the amount of energy dissipated in the workpiece during HAM using acoustic emission (AE) measurements is presented in this paper. The measured AE-signals are linked to a physical energy dissipation model. Stochastic modelling of the AE-signals provides more information on the physics of the energy dissipation process.