INVESTIGATION ON ABRASIVE WATER JET DRILLING HOLE FEATURES OF UHMWPE

Ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is one of the most extensively utilized supporting materials inside total knee replacement (TKR) because of its combination of outstanding mechanical qualities and wear resistance. The integrity of the hole is an essential component for fastening the femur and tibia elements in knee replacements. Due to its viscoelasticity behavior, it often causes difficulties such as rapid tool wear, burr formation, and poor finish in conventional machining operations, which causes poor hole features. Since unconventional methods are currently being investigated for drilling UHMWPE. Abrasive water jet drilling (AWJD) is particularly promising for handling hard-to-machine materials, and AWJ drilling of UHMWPE materials demands focus on it. The focus of this research is to determine the importance of AWJD variables for UHMWPE. In this experiment, 64 holes, each with a diameter of 10mm, were drilled into the sample material using a complete factorial approach to evaluation. Abrasive water jet pressure (AWJP) (210, 260, 310, and 360MPa), abrasive mass flow rate (AMFR) (250, 300, 350, and 400g/min.), and traverse rate (TR) (150, 300, 450, and 600mm/min.) were all taken into account. Furthermore, the geometrical properties of the hole, such as hole diameter (entry and exit), circularity, perpendicularity, and cylindricity, were investigated. The outcomes identified that both AWJP and TR played significant roles in determining the geometric features of the hole. During the drilling operation, the material removal mechanism and the hole defects were observed and identified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).