Prediction and Analysis of Abrasive Water Jet Machining Performance on Hybrid Composite

Hybrid polymer composites have been used in various applications because of their superior characteristics. Conventional cutting techniques in these materials produce poor quality machining because of fiber delamination and surface damage. It is also challenging to produce shapes and cuts in polymer composite materials through conventional machining. Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) may be suitable for producing quality cuts by controlled machining process. This article investigated the AWJM of red mud-filled sisal polyester hybrid composite. The second order regression model was developed for material removal rate (MRR) and kerf taper (KT) through the experimental data. The developed model predicted the MRR and KT with minimum error at 95 % confidence level. The MRR of the hybrid composite was influenced highly by transverse speed (83.56 %) whereas the KT was influenced mostly by standoff distance (SOD, 45.66 %). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis on the cut surface helps to understand the failure mechanism on AWJM.