Machining of soda lime glass using abrasive hot air jet: An experimental study

Abrasive Jet Machining is becoming one of the most prominent machining techniques for glass and other brittle materials. In this article, an attempt has been made to combine abrasive and hot air to form an abrasive hot air jet. Abrasive hot air jet machining can be applied to various operations such as drilling, surface etching, grooving and micro finishing on the glass and its composites. The effect of air temperature on the material removal rate applied to the process of glass etching and grooving is discussed in this article. The roughness of machined surface is also analyzed. It is found that the Material Removal Rate (MRR) increases as the temperature of carrier media (air) is increased. The results have revealed that the roughness of machined surface is reduced by increasing temperature of carrier media. The mechanism of material removal rate has been discussed with aid of SEM micrographs. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.