Quality Characteristics of Borosilicate Glass Machined Through Abrasive Water Jet: An Optimization and Experimental Approach

Borosilicate glass is classified as a crucial engineering material due to its exceptional qualities, such as a low thermal expansion coefficient, reduced density, chemical inertness, electrical non-conductivity, and optical clarity. However, its brittleness and hardness pose significant obstacles to conventional machining methods. Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) offers a viable alternative, as it effectively addresses these challenges by minimizing both thermal distortion and induced stress on the material being machined.This study seeks to analyze the effect of various machining parameters on the material removal rate (MRR) during AWJM of borosilicate glass. Employing a central composite design (CCD) methodology based on response surface methodology (RSM), experiments were performed using four factors, and five levels were considered for each. The input factors include abrasive mass flow rate (AFR), water pressure (WP), stand-off distance (SOD), and traverse speed (TS) for conducting the experiment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the AFR significantly influenced the MRR, followed by WP and SOD. Single-objective optimization identified an MRR of 13.664 g/min, with specific parameter settings: a WP of 1409.381 bar, an AFR of 52.853 g/min, a TS of 384.153 mm/min, and a SOD of 35.656 mm. The desirability function approach (DFA) was also employed to optimize the input variables and finally validated the MRR through a confirmation test. Therefore, this study offers crucial insights for optimizing machining parameters to enhance cutting efficiency and productivity in industrial applications involving AWJM of borosilicate glass.