The Use of Abrasive Waterjet Cutting to Remove Flash from Castings

This article proposes to use abrasive waterjet cutting (AWJ) for deflashing, deburring and similar finishing operations in casting. The basic requirements concerning the dimensional accuracy and surface texture of cast components are not met if visible surface flaws are detected. The experiments focused on the removal of external flash from elements made of EN-GJL-150 cast iron. The method employed for finishing was abrasive waterjet cutting. The tests were carried out using an APW 2010BB waterjet cutting machine. The form profiles before and after flash removal were determined with a Taylor Hobson PGI 1200 contact profiler. A Nikon AZ100 optical microscope was applied to observe and measure the changes in the flash height and width. The casting surface after finishing was smooth, without characteristic sharp, rough edges that occur in the cutting of objects with a considerable thickness. It should be emphasized that this method does not replace precise cutting operations. Yet, it can be successfully used to finish castings for which lower surface quality is required. An undoubted advantage of waterjet cutting is no effect of high temperature as is the case with plasma, laser or conventional cutting. This process is also easy to automate; one tool is needed to perform different finishing operations in order to obtain the desired dimensions, both internal and external.