ORIGINAL ARTICLE Application of Taguchi design for quality characterization of abrasive water jet machining of TRIP sheet steels John Kechagias & George Petropoulos & Nikolaos Vaxevanidis Received: 28 October 2009 / Accepted: 28 November 2011 / Published online: 9 December 2011 # Springer-Verlag London Limited 2011 Abstract In the present paper, the influence of sheet thickness, nozzle diameter, standoff distance, and traverse speed during abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) of transformation- induced plasticity (TRIP) sheet steels on surface quality char- acteristics (kerf geometry and surface roughness) was investi- gated. The experiments were designed using Taguchi methodology and carried out by AWJ Machining TRIP 700 CR-FH and TRIP 800 HR-FH steel sheets. As response vari- ables, mean kerf width and average surface roughness were selected. The experimental results were analyzed using analysis of means and analysis of variance methods in order to correlate the AWJM process parameters the response variables. In addi- tion, regression models were obtained using the experimental results and validated with six independent experiments. The reported results indicate that the proposed methodology can satisfactorily analyze the surface roughness and the mean kerf in AWJM; moreover, it can be considered as valuable tools for process planning in workshop. Keywords Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) . Taguchi design . Modeling . Kerf width . Surface roughness (Ra) 1 Introduction Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) technology nowadays is considered to be one of the most developing advanced nontraditional methods used in industry for material process- ing with the distinct advantages of no thermal distortion, high machining versatility, high flexibility, and small cutting forces. Because of these capabilities, it can be applied for machining materials with higher performance and more cost- effective than traditional and some nontraditional machining processes. AWJM is widely used in the processing of materi- als such as titanium, steel, brass, aluminum, stone, Inconel, and any kind of glass and composites [1–4]. AWJM is a technique for cutting or separating materials by means of a high-velocity slurry jet, formed as a result of injecting abrasive particles to a water jet ejected by an orifice (see Fig. 1). The AWJM is characterized by a large number of oper- ational parameters which determine the efficiency, economy and quality of the entire process. In general, the parameters in AWJM can be divided into four categories: (1) hydraulic parameters, (2) mixing and acceleration parameters, (3) cutting parameters, and (4) abrasive parameters [3]. The in- fluence of these parameters on the efficient performance of AWJM can be illustrated by using a cause-and-effect diagram; see Fig. 2. AWJM has been the subject of research studies directed towards the understanding of the complex material removal mechanisms and the optimization of the process parameters, especially in view of the depth and quality of the cuts produced. Macrogeometric characteristics in-depth, i.e., a tapered kerf formed during cutting and micro-geometry Prof. G. Petropoulos passed away suddenly on 20 July 2010 during the review process of this manuscript. He is greatly missed by his colleagues and friends. J. Kechagias : G. Petropoulos Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos 38334, Greece J. Kechagias (*) Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Larissa, Larissa GR 41110, Greece e-mail: jkechag@teilar.gr N. Vaxevanidis Department of Mechanical Engineering Educators, School of Pedagogical & Technological Education (ASPETE), N. Heraklion Attikis GR 14121, Greece e-mail: vaxev@aspete.gr Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2012) 62:635–643 DOI 10.1007/s00170-011-3815-3