International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056 Volume: 03 Issue: 10 | Oct -2016 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2016, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 4.45 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 423 A REVIEW ON OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES OF ABRASIVE WATERJET MACHINING M.Sibichakkravarthi 1 , P.Uthayakumar 2 , K.Vignesh 3 , A. Murugarajan 4 1,2,3 B.E- Final year, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. E-mail Id: uthayakumar.1304240@srec.ac.in 4 Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. E-mail Id: murugarajan@srec.ac.in ---------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract - Abrasive Water Jet Machining is an effective technology for processing various materials. This paper reviews on the various optimization techniques for process parameters of Abrasive Water Jet Machining (AWJM). In AWJM process the workpiece material is removed by impact erosion of high velocity jet of water mixed with abrasive particles. There are several optimization techniques that are used to increase the effectiveness of the AWJM process such as, Taguchi method, Response Surface Methodology (RSM), Fuzzy Logic (FL), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). Based on these optimization techniques how the operating variables are changed to obtain the different optimized results is studied. Key Words: Abrasive Waterjet, Material Removal Rate (MRR), Kerf Geometry, Surface Roughness (SR), Stand-off distance (SoD) 1. INTRODUCTION Waterjet cutting technology is one of the fastest growing machining processes in the world. Waterjets entered the manufacturing sector in the early ͳͻ͹Ͳǯs for cutting soft materials like cardboard, plastics, rubber. )n the mid ͳͻͺͲǯs, the abrasive water jet machining was introduced to expand the capabilities of the tool to cut hard materials like metal, ceramic, stone, glass, composite materials [1]. An abrasive waterjet is a jet of water that contains some abrasive materials such as Aluminium oxide, Silicon carbide, sodium bi carbonate, dolomite and glass beads [2] with varying grain sizes. In this process, water goes through the thin orifice with very high pressure (about 4000-6400 bar) and enters mixing chamber with a very high velocity (nearly 4000kmph). In mixing chamber, abrasive particles along with water jet are drawn into the nozzle. Generally nozzles are made of high wear resistant materials like sapphire or diamond [3]. This mixture containing water, abrasive particles and air leaves nozzle. Having received a lot of kinetic energy and velocity by water jet, the abrasive particles cause wearing and machining when they impact on the work piece surface. Advantages of abrasive water jet cutting are the ability to cut almost all materials, no thickness limitation to cut materials, no thermal distortion, high flexibility and small cutting forces [4]. Because of these capabilities, this cutting technique is more cost-effective than traditional and some non-traditional machining processes. It is also an environmentally friendly technique that can be adopted for processing number of engineering materials particularly difficult-to-cut materials. However, AWJM has some limitations and drawbacks. It may generate loud noise and a messy working environment. It may also create tapered edges on the kerf characteristics [5], especially when cutting at high traverse rates. Figure-1: Abrasive waterjet machining system Figure-2: Principle of operation of Abrasive Waterjet 2. OPTIMIZATION Optimization is the process methodology of making Abrasive Waterjet Machining as effective as possible. Machining is one of the most important and widely used manufacturing