Comparative evaluation of cut quality between abrasive water jet machining and laser beam machining of Ti6Al4V

Titanium alloy, grade five (Ti6Al4V) has been in massive demand in the aerospace, automobile, and marine industries. Manufacturers use different non-conventional machining techniques like abrasive water jet machining (AWJM), laser beam machining (LBM), and a few others to process this alloy. These processes ease the machining process, reduce the cost and enhance the machining qualities thus optimising the machining parameters to obtain these desirable characteristics. This paper identifies the impact of different machining parameters of AWJM and LBM on the cut quality of Ti6Al4V on a 5 mm thick plate and compares the cut quality between the two-machining process. Although both the machining processes have different operation principles, comparing the final cut quality becomes highly relevant as both the non-conventional processes are suitable substitutes for each other. The study stands novel in stating the optimised machining parameters and comparing the relevant machining process in a real-time environment.