Analysis of Water Jet Cutting Parameters on Surface Roughness of SKD 11 Steel

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the effects of various factors, including water pressure, cutting speed, stand–off distance, and abrasive type, on the surface roughness of SKD 11 tool steel in the abrasive water jet cutting process. The study applied the Box–Behnken Design (BBD) for experimental design and employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for statistical analysis. The results indicated that all four factors significantly influenced surface roughness (p–value < 0.05), with surface roughness values ranging between 3.21 and 4.75 micrometers. The optimal conditions for achieving the lowest surface roughness were a water pressure of 35,000 Psi, a cutting speed of 20 mm/min, a stand–off distance of 1.64 mm, and the use of Garnet II Abrasive. The developed model demonstrated high accuracy with an R² of 88.36% and an Adjusted R² of 81.03%. The findings of this study can be applied as guidelines for selecting appropriate parameters in abrasive waterjet cutting processes to control surface quality and enhance production efficiency.