A Visualization Study of Abrasive Flow Variation in Abrasive Air Jets

Abstract:

Abrasive jet machining is an efficient technology for the fabrication of three dimensional micro structures on brittle materials. In abrasive jet machining, the variation or fluctuation in the amount of abrasive supply has a significant effect on the quality of the machined structures. An image processing technique is employed in this study to study the abrasive flow rate variation, in which abrasive jet pictures are captured at different moments by a Particle Image Velocimetry technology and then processed using Labview Vision Assistant and MATLAB. It shows that the abrasive flow rate fluctuates with time under the jetting conditions considered. The abrasive flow from larger nozzles or at smaller air pressures shows more profound fluctuation. Although the abrasive flow fluctuation from smaller nozzles remains almost constant when the air pressure is changed, for larger nozzles, the magnitude of the fluctuation gradually decreases as the air pressure is increased.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 652-654)
• Pages: 2123-2128
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.652-654.2123
• Online since: January 2013
• Authors: Jing Ming Fan, Jun Wang
• Keywords: Abrasive Air Jet, Abrasive Flow Fluctuation, Abrasive Flow Rate, Flow Field

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