Effect of fluid motion on the impact erosion by a micro-particle on quartz crystals

Abrasive slurry jet (ASJ) is a promising technology to process a variety of materials with advantages of high flexibility, no heat affected zone and high cutting efficiency. In this paper, the impressions generated on a quartz crystal specimen by the impacts of micro-particles laden in a water flow and the associated impact erosion mechanisms are presented and discussed in order to effectively and efficiently control the machining quality. Both brittle and ductile mode erosions coexist in the machining process due to the influence of the fluid motion on the trajectories of particles near the target surface. Large-scale craters produced by brittle conchoidal fractures associated with crashed zone, radial and lateral cracks, dominate the erosion process at large jet impact angles while small-scale craters involving micro-ploughing and micro-cutting are produced by the ductile mode erosion at small jet impact angles. The relation between the process parameters and the overall average volume of craters has also been quantitatively analyzed. A combination of small jet impact angle and abrasive particles and low water pressure is preferred for improving the surface quality after the ASJ machining process caused by the more formation of ductile mode induced craters on the target material, but it is at the sacrifice of the material removal rate as well.