Topography and microstructure of the cutting surface machined with abrasive waterjet

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) technology has been widely used for cutting materials in precision machining. The present paper reports the surface topography and microstructure of the cutting surfaces machined by AWJ. Four different kinds of ductile metallic materials were used for preparation of specimens. With the AWJ processing technique, smooth surfaces were easily obtained with a lower surface roughness about 2 to 3 μm. By comparing the microhardness of the specimens with the control surface sample obtained by wire electrodischarge machining, it is found that there is no heat-affected zone on the cutting surfaces machined by AWJ. By observing the surface morphology and microstructure, the features of friction and wear marks are revealed. The results show that a smooth cutting surface is more easily obtained on hard materials, while erosions on soft material surfaces are more serious. All scratches have a clear consistent direction, under the action of mechanical abrasive wear.