A study of abrasive waterjet characteristics by CFD simulation

Abstract

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models for ultrahigh velocity waterjets and abrasive waterjets (AWJs) are established using the Fluent6 flow solver. Jet dynamic characteristics for the flow downstream from a very fine nozzle are then simulated under steady state, turbulent, two-phase and three-phase flow conditions. Water and particle velocities in a jet are obtained under different input and boundary conditions to provide an insight into the jet characteristics and a fundamental understanding of the kerf formation process in AWJ cutting. For the range of downstream distances considered, the results indicate that a jet is characterized by a decay of the axial velocity at the jet centre and there is a rapid evolution from the inlet conditions to a top-hat velocity profile downstream.