Fabrication of abrasive jet machine

Abstract

Abrasive Jet Machining (AJM) is the process of material removal from a work piece by the application of a high speed stream of abrasive particles suspended in a gas medium from a nozzle. The material removal process is mainly caused by brittle fracture by impingement and then by erosion. The AJM will chiefly be used to cut shapes, drill holes and de-burr in hard and brittle materials like glass, ceramics etc. In this project, a model of the Abrasive Jet Machine was designed using CAD packages like AutoCAD and CATIA. Care was taken to efficiently use the available material and space. The machine was fabricated in the institute workshop with convectional machine tools like arc welding machine, hand drill, grinding machine using commonly available materials like mild steel sheet and rod, aluminum sheet, glue, polythene sheet ,glass fiber which are commonly available in the local market. Care has been taken to use less fabricated components, because, the lack of accuracy in fabricated components would lead to a reduced performance of the machine. The machine was be automated to have 3 axes travel using microcontroller and driver arrangement along with stepper motor. The different functional components of AJM are the machining chamber, work holding device, abrasive drainage system, compressor, air filter and regulator, abrasive nozzle, and mixing chamber with cam motor arrangement. The different components are selected after appropriate design calculations.