An adaptive control strategy for the abrasive waterjet cutting process with the integration of vision-based monitoring and a neuro-genetic control strategy

This paper presents an integrated approach for the monitoring and control of abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting process. A machine-vision-based monitoring approach was proposed to obtain the bore diameter of the focusing nozzle from time to time. A neuro-genetic approach, proposed by Srinivasu and Ramesh Babu (Appl Soft Comput 8(1):809-819, 2008) was employed as a control strategy to modify the process parameters, such as water pressure, abrasive flow rate, and jet traverse rate, so as to maintain the desired depth of cut, with changes in the diameter of the focusing nozzle monitored with a machine vision system. By combining the monitoring and control strategies, an integrated approach for adaptive control of AWJ cutting process is realized. The effectiveness of the proposed integrated approach for adaptive control of AWJ cutting process was shown by comparing the results obtained from the experiments with the process parameters suggested by the control strategy to achieve the desired depth of cut. From the results of the study, it is seen that the proposed monitoring system is capable of monitoring the focusing nozzle diameter with a mean absolute deviation of 0.05 mm and that the neuro-genetic strategy is capable of modifying the controllable process parameters to maintain the desired depth of cut with a mean absolute deviation of 0.87 mm. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited.