Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

Winter 1-31-1994

Degree Name

Master of Science in Manufacturing Systems Engineering - (M.S.)

Department

Manufacturing Engineering Division

First Advisor

E. S. Geskin

Second Advisor

N. M. Ravindra

Third Advisor

R. S. Sodhi

Abstract

This thesis consists of a study of the effects of abrasive water jet cutting on brittle silicon substrates. In total, 26 different cuts were made in a single crystal silicon substrate with an abrasive water jet cutter under different conditions of water flow, water pressure, and abrasive flow rate. These cuts were analyzed for surface roughness, and microstructure.

The roughness measurements were compared in order to determine the best possible cutting conditions. The cut with the best roughness of 0.000170 inches was obtained under cutting conditions of 30 KSI water pressure, 1 inch/minute cutting speed, and an abrasive flow rate of 56 grams/minute.

Other trends in the data show the optimum cutting speed to be between 1 and 2 inches/ minute. The water pressure of 30 KSI achieved better results than the 50 KSI presures under similar cutting conditions . At both 50KSI and 30 KSI, low abrasive flow rates result in better roughness values.

Included in

Manufacturing Commons

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.