The Study of Abrasive Water Jet Cutting Front Development using a Two-Dimensional Cellular Automata Model

In this paper, the cutting front development during abrasive water jet (AWJ) cutting is studied using a two-dimensional cellular automata (CA) model, hence the striation formation phenomenon is studied indirectly. To calculate the shape of the cutting front, the CA model uses the following inputs: cutting velocity, AWJ intensity and material type. The cutting process is described by simplified material removal and AWJ propagation models in the form of CA rules. The rules encompass AWJ ability to erode the workpiece material and, inversely, the workpiece material’s resistance to the erosion process. The proposed CA model is validated by checking the trend of the cutting front development at various input parameters. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimentally obtained trends and thus confirm the proper setup of CA rules. This gives a better insight into the AWJ cutting mechanism.