A Study of Kerf Geometry in Abrasive Water Jet Cutting of Aluminum 7075 Alloy

abrasive water jet is one of the most popular cutting methods today due to its ability and unique features such as the ability to cut complex shapes as well as the wide range of materials and non - creation of thermal distortion at the cutting site. The accuracy of the process is mainly due to selecting the cutting parameters. The sheet used in this study is aluminum 7075 with a thickness of 25 mm. In this research, for water jet pressure, forward speed and nozzle distance to the surface of the workpiece, three surfaces and for the impingement angle of two surfaces were considered. In order to investigate the quality of the cut - off area, the effect of process parameters on the high and low width of the cut section and also the cut - surface slope is investigated. Finally, the cut gap created by this process has special geometrical features that in some cases is the limitation of the process. The results showed that the change in the direction of the water jet from the perpendicular to the surface of the work piece, although the width of the cutting crack cannot be changed, the surface quality decreases and the cutting surface slope increases.