Grey-fuzzy method-based parametric analysis of abrasive water jet machining on GFRP composites

Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) is an advanced non-traditional material removal process which can machine almost all types of thin hard-to-cut materials. The quality of its machining operation can be effectively enhanced while selecting the appropriate settings of its different input parameters through the application of optimization techniques. This paper aims in obtaining the optimal combination of four AWJM control parameters, such as water jet pressure, stand-off distance, abrasive mass flow rate and traverse speed while machining of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites. Grey relational analysis combined with fuzzy logic is employed here for attaining the most favored values of the process outputs (responses), i.e. material removal rate, surface roughness, kerf width and kerf angle. The effects of varying AWJM process parameters on the measured responses are further studied through the developed interaction plots, while the contributions of those process parameters are identified through analysis of variance technique. The response surface plots would further help in determining the attainable values of the corresponding process parameters to realize the desired quality of the considered responses.