Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study of Jet Distance in Abrasive Waterjet Polishing

In this paper, it introduces the work principle of abrasive waterjet polishing (AWJP) and analyzes the jet distance to the influence of the AWJP under a certain pressure, with a numerical simulation and analysis to the jet distance based on jet mechanics and fluid dynamics. By establishing the physical models of the different jet distance of the AWJP and adopting the Realizable k-ε model and the SIMPLEC algorithm, it gains the jet flow field of the AWJP with different jet distance models and the distribution of turbulence intensity and pressure and velocity on the workpiece surface. The numerical simulation results of the different jet distance were analyzed and compared, according to the AWJP to the characteristic requirement of the jet. By doing the polishing experiment with a abrasive waterjet cutting machine, it verifies that the best polishing distance range of AWJP is from 10 times to 13 times of the nozzle diameter, which provides the theoretical basis for the process research of the AWPJ in the future.