Optimization of surface roughness, striation and burr formation during machining of aluminum 2024-T351 with abrasive water jet machining

Aluminum alloys are widely used in various industries due to their high variety and desirable mechanical properties. In the meantime, Al 2024-T351 aluminum alloy, due to its features such as high strength-to-weight ratio, ductility, toughness and fatigue resistance, has a special use in the manufacture of components such as wings and fuselage. The presence of 1.4% magnesium in the chemical structure of this alloy has made it sensitive to heat generated during conventional machining operations. For this reason, the use of abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) has been introduced as a suitable method for machining these materials. In this study, the effect of selected parameters of abrasive water jet machining, such as jet pressure, traverse speed and loading factor on surface roughness angle of striation and the burr formation in 2024-T351 aluminum samples were investigated. The results showed that after the traverse speed, the jet pressure and loading factor had the greatest effect on the qualitative characteristics of the surface of the samples, respectively. Also, during the optimization of the response surface methodology, the value optimized by the model was 2.53 and 3.17 micrometer for smooth and rough regions respectively, and 3.48° for the angle of striation. the error model was calculated to be, -2.79%, -5.98% and 16.23% respectively, compared to the experimental value obtained for the mentioned quantities.