Techno-economic analysis of abrasive water-jet machining and wire electrical -discharge machining

Abstract

Nowadays, carefully selected technologies for material machining can significantly affect quality of machined surface and the cost of machining. Stainless steels are increasingly used in modem production. Austenitic stainless steels (type AISI 304 including Č 4580) make up over 50% of total world production of stainless steel. Several methods for machining of these materials are available in practice today. However, some types of machining cause the change in the material properties. Machined surface quality in the function of traverse speed and costs of the stated machining methods has been selected for comparative analysis of the machining methods. This paper presents an analysis of steel machining technology (4580 type of steel) with two different machining methods - abrasive water-jet and wire electrical-discharge machining. In addition, an economic analysis of the two machining methods has been conducted from the cost standpoint.