Experimental and numerical investigation of waterjet derusting technology

The study is concerned with the development of effective technology for derusting of a steel surface. We have investigated the surface derusting by high-speed waterjet and determined the optimal operational conditions. This investigation involved topographical and metallographical studies of the substrate surfaces and subsequent classification of the substrates with respect to the degree of rust development. Then the rust was removed by a moving waterjet at various impact conditions and the generated surfaces were examined. Soft computing techniques were used to select the optimal conditions for rust removal. Due to the extremely chaotic and fuzzy nature of input information the advanced numerical procedure based on the Neural Network Driven Fuzzy Reasoning was employed. As the result, the realistic procedure for steel derusting was found and a practical technique for process design was suggested.