Turning of wood plastic composites by water jet and abrasive water jet

The paper deals with the verification of suitability of water jet and abrasive water jet application for the disintegration of rotating samples of wood plastic composites (WPCs) with diameter d = 36 mm. The influence of selected technological factors (traverse speed of cutting head v [mm/min] and size of abrasive particles [MESH]) on the topography of resulting surfaces has in particular been studied. Surface topography and quality have been assessed using the methods of optical and confocal microscopy and optical profilometry. The presented procedures and results of experiments demonstrate the technology of abrasive water jet as an appropriate tool for the rough machining of WPCs and similar composite materials. In addition, the application of this technology can effectively solve the problem of the melting of the polymer matrix and its subsequent sticking to the functional parts of a cutting tool resulting from conventional turning.