Modeling of Temperature Distributions in the Workpiece During Abrasive Waterjet Machining

Modeling of temperature distributions in a block-type workpiece during cutting with an abrasive waterjet (AWJ) was the subject of an analytical/experimental investigation in the present study. The experiments included measurement of detailed time-temperature distributions in the workpiece for selected AWJ/workpiece operational parameters. Mathematical modeling of the problem made use of a two-part process. In the first part, the measured experimental data were fed into an inverse heat conduction algorithm, which determined the corresponding heat flux in the workpiece. In the second part, this heat flux was fed into a two-dimensional transient heat conduction model that calculated the corresponding temperature distributions in the workpiece. It is demonstrated that the proposed model can serve as a useful thermal analysis tool for AWJ cutting processes so long as a quasi-steady-state condition can be established in the workpiece.