CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 60 (2011) 355358

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CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology

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Abrasive water jet machining of glass with stagnation effect

T. Matsumura *, T. Muramatsu, S. Fueki
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo, Japan
Submitted by T. Hoshi (1), Toyohashi, Japan

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Keywords:
Waterjet machining
Glass
Micromachining

Abrasive water jet processes of glass are presented for crack-free machining of micro grooves and uid
polishing of micro channels with CFD analysis. In machining of the micro grooves, the abrasive is supplied
to ow through intended machining area using the tapered masks. Stagnation under the jet and the
horizontal ow on the machining area are controlled to generate crack-free surfaces by the mask shape.
The same effect can be applied to polishing of the micro channels pre-machined by milling. Stagnation
controlled by the inner wall of the channel changes the ow direction while keeping high uid velocities.
2011 CIRP.

1. Introduction

associated with the surface nishing. The effect of the stagnation

area is veried in the machining tests.

The demand for glass devices has recently increased in the

material development, the medical diagnosis and the environmental analysis. The glass devices are usually manufactured using
etching with photolithography. In wet etching of glass, hydrouoric acid is used for chemical reaction. For the sake of safety in
the operation and control of the machining rate, the chemical
liquid is diluted and the manufacturing rate is low. An additional
cost for the waste disposal has to be considered for the
environmental impact. Dry etching with plasma is also applied
to micro fabrication on the glass surfaces. Although the machining
size in the dry etching is much smaller than that of other processes,
the process is performed for a long time on expensive facilities.
Therefore, alternative processes have been required to improve the
manufacturing cost and environment.
This study applies abrasive water jet to machining and
polishing of glass. The abrasive water jet processes are originally
performed to cut materials with water containing abrasive grains
at a high pressure [1]. The abrasive water jets have also been
applied to milling [2,3], drilling, and polishing [4,5]. Many studies
have discussed the removal process and the surface nish [69].
The abrasive ow process was associated with erosion [10,11] and
the analytical models proposed for controlling the process [12,13].
In manufacturing of the glass devices, crack-free surfaces should be
nished without brittle fracture. Erosion of glasses by solid
particles has also been discussed [14,15]. Because brittle fracture
largely depends on the impingement angles of particles, the
particle collision should be controlled at a shallow impingement
angle.
The paper discusses control of abrasive ow using the
stagnation in the abrasive water jet processes for machining and
polishing of micro grooves. The stagnation area under the jet
nozzle is evaluated using computational uid dynamics and

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tmatsumu@cck.dendai.ac.jp (T. Matsumura).
0007-8506/$ see front matter 2011 CIRP.
doi:10.1016/j.cirp.2011.03.118

2. Abrasive water jet machining

2.1. Machining operation
Machining of micro grooves 20100 mm wide 110 mm deep is
discussed for human cell operations on the glass chips in this
chapter. Fig. 1 shows the abrasive water jet machining of the micro
grooves. The diameter of the nozzle is 0.25 mm. CeO2 slurry is
supplied with water by a low-pressure pump. The specications of
the operation are shown in Table 1. The machining area is
controlled by the V-shaped masks to supply the slurry sufciently
at a pressure enough to machine.
2.2. Stagnation effect
The process is associated with erosion, in which the surface
proles changes with deformation, fracture and material removal
at collision of the particles. Erosion can be controlled by the sizes,
the velocities, and the impingement angles of the solid particles.
The impingement angle is dened as the angle shown in Fig. 2.
When the impingement angle is large, erosion of brittle materials
normally is accompanied by brittle fracture. Meanwhile, when
small particles collide onto a surface at small impingement angles,
the surface prole changes without fracture as erosion of ductile
materials. In order to nish a crack-free surface, the particles
should be controlled to collide onto a surface at shallow angles and
move horizontally at high velocities to keep high removal rates
with kinetic energies.
Fig. 3 shows CFD analysis of uid ow around the machining
area between the masks tapered at 45 degrees, where the taper
angle is dened as the slope of the sidewall, as shown in Fig. 1. The
uid velocity at the exit of the jet nozzle is 180 m/s. The feed of the
nozzle is ignored in the analysis. A time-dependent analysis was
conducted in explicit scheme using the commercial code
PHOENICS based on nite volume method [16]. Turbulent ow

[()TD$FIG]

[()TD$FIG]

T. Matsumura et al. / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 60 (2011) 355358

356

Fig. 1. Micro machining in abrasive water jet process.

Table 1
Specications.
Pump

Triplex
plunger

Abrasive
slurry

Cerium oxide
(CeO2)

Capacity
Maximum pressure

15.1 ml/min
35 MPa

Particle size
Density

Nozzle diameter
Mask

0.25 mm
Tungsten
carbide

Workpiece

300500 nm
2.5% (diluted
at jet nozzle)
Crown glass
(72% SiO2,
18% K2CO2,
10%CaCO2)

Fig. 4. Abrasive water ow with masks tapered at 30 degrees in CFD conditions:

uid velocity at the jet nozzle, 180 m/s; width of groove, 20 mm; taper angle of
masks, 30 degrees.

the center of the exposed area. When the liquid ows vertically
with respect to the surface, the ow is accompanied by stagnation
under the jet nozzle. Although the pressures are high in the
stagnation area, the abrasive particles ow at low velocities.
Therefore, brittle fracture does not occur in the stagnation area
under the jet nozzle. Then, the vertical ow from the jet nozzle is
changed to the horizontal one outside of stagnation. The liquid
ows at around 150 m/s, which are high enough velocities to
remove the material.
Fig. 4 shows the uid velocity in machining using the masks
tapered at 30 degrees. The stagnation area is smaller than that of
Fig. 3(b). Because the size of the stagnation area changes with the
taper angle of the masks, the impingement angles of the abrasive
particles can be controlled by the taper angle.

[()TD$FIG]

2.3. Machining tests

Fig. 2. Particle collision in erosion.

is expressed by ke model and free boundary between liquid and

air is formulated in SEM (Scalar Equation Method) scheme [17].
Fig. 3(a) shows the interface between liquid and air. The liquid
ows onto the exposed surface vertically and then spreads
horizontally along the machining area between the masks.
Fig. 3(b) shows the uid velocity in the cross section containing

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 5 shows the machining tests conducted for glass. The

tapered masks were set on the workpiece surface, as shown in
Fig. 5(b). The nozzle is mounted on the turret of a NC lathe to
control the traverse motion at a specied feed rate along the
exposed area between the masks. Abrasives are mixed in the
mixing tube of the jet nozzle and supplied to the material at high
velocities.
Fig. 6 shows an example of the micro grooves, where the width
and the depth of groove are 20 mm and 2.5 mm, respectively. The
pictures were taken with a laser confocal microscope and an AFM.
The nominal uid velocity at the exit of the nozzle was 180 m/s.
Cerium oxide dispersion was diluted to be in a concentration of
2.5%. 800 ml of the colloidal liquid was supplied from the slurry
tank to the jet nozzle in a test. The taper angle of the masks was 45
degrees. The machining is veried in observation of a crack-free

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 3. Abrasive water ow in CFD conditions: uid velocity at the jet nozzle, 180 m/
s; width of groove, 20 mm; taper angle of masks, 45 degrees. (a) Boundary between
air and the abrasive liquid, (b) ow velocity distribution.

Fig. 5. Machining test. (a) Set up, (b) masks.

[()TD$FIG]

[()TD$FIG]

T. Matsumura et al. / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 60 (2011) 355358

357

Fig. 8. Surface nish in machining with mask tapered at 30 degrees.

[()TD$FIG]
Fig. 6. Micro groove machined. (a) Microphotograph, (b) AFM image.

surface. Fig. 7 shows the surface prole along the ow direction on

the exposed area. A ne surface is nished within roughness of
30 nm.
Fig. 8 shows a magnied picture of the surface in machining
with the masks tapered at 30 degrees. The stagnation area becomes
smaller than that of masks tapered at 45 degrees, as shown in Fig. 4.
Therefore, the stagnation area is not large enough to ow the
particle horizontally. Consequently, brittle fracture occurs on the
surface due to large impingement angles of the abrasive particles.

Fig. 9. Polishing of micro groove with abrasive water jet.

masks work in the machining of the micro grooves discussed in the

previous chapter.
The arrows in Fig. 10 designate the velocity vectors. In the
abrasive ow on the at surface, the uid velocity is low because
the uid ow spreads to all directions on the surface. Meanwhile,
when the abrasive liquid is supplied to the groove, the ow
direction is restricted by the sidewall of the groove. Thus, the
sidewall keeps the ow velocity high with a large stagnation area.
Consequently, the abrasive particle ows fast enough to polish the
surface sufciently.

3. Polishing in micro groove

3.1. Polishing operation
The micro grooves, which are used for the micro channels of the
micro TASs, can be machined on the glass plates without brittle
fracture in millings with ball end mills [18]. Although the surface is
nished around 40 nm Ra, the cutter trace is left on the surface.
When the grooves are machined with the worn tool, the chips are
adhered onto the surface. The uid polishing is here discussed to
nish the micro grooves with the abrasive water jet, as shown in
Fig. 9. The width and the depth of the micro grooves are 175 mm
and 20 mm, respectively. The jet nozzle traverses above the
grooves to nish the grooves with supplying the abrasive slurry.

[()TD$FIG]

3.2. Stagnation effect

The uid ow in the groove is compared with that of the at
surface in the CFD analysis. The uid velocity is 120 m/s at the exit
of the jet nozzle. The feed of the jet nozzle is ignored in the analysis.
Fig. 10(a) shows the uid velocity in the cross section containing
the center of the nozzle when the abrasive liquid is supplied to a
at surface. The stagnation area under the nozzle is not large
enough to change the vertical ow to the horizontal one. Therefore,
the particles are expected to collide onto the surface at large
impingement angles. Fig. 10(b) shows the uid velocity in the cross
section along the groove when the abrasive liquid is supplied to the
groove. The stagnation area becomes larger than that of Fig. 10(a).
The abrasive particles are expected to collide onto the surface apart
from the nozzle and ow horizontally. The change in the
stagnation area is induced by the sidewall of the groove. The
sidewall promotes development of the stagnation area with
controlling the ow direction, as the tapers of the V-shaped

Fig. 7. Surface prole.

3.3. Polishing tests

Fig. 11 shows the surface damages after supplying the abrasive
slurry to a at surface and a micro groove 20 mm deep. The
pressure of the water pump was 15 MPa and the nominal uid
velocity at the exit of the nozzle was 90 m/s. 2.5% CeO2 slurry was
supplied in a volume of 800 ml. The nozzle position was adjusted at
a height of 1.5 mm from workpiece. Brittle fracture was observed

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 10. Distribution of uid velocity in CFD uid velocity at jet nozzle, 120 m/s. (a)
Flat plate, (b) groove (20 mm deep).

[()TD$FIG]

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T. Matsumura et al. / CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 60 (2011) 355358

4. Conclusion

Fig. 11. Brittle fracture on surface nishes. (a) Flat plate, (b) groove (20 mm deep).

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 12. Improvement of surface nish in polishing. (a) Original, (b) polished.

[()TD$FIG]

The abrasive water jet was applied to micro machining and uid
polishing of glass using stagnation generated under the jet nozzle.
In order to nish a crack-free surface, the process should be
controlled so that the abrasive particles ow horizontally and
collide onto the surface at small impingement angles.
In machining of the micro groove, the machining area is
controlled by the V-shaped masks on the surface. The jet nozzle is
traversed above the exposed area with supplying the abrasive
slurry at a low pressure. The vertical ow from the jet nozzle
changes to horizontal ow around the stagnation area. Then, the
abrasive particles remove the subsurface. The stagnation area can
be controlled by the taper angle of the V-shaped masks. When the
taper angle is small, the stagnation area does not become large and
the abrasive particles collide onto the surface at large impingement
angles. As a consequence, brittle fracture occurs on the surface. The
taper angle should be large to ow abrasive particles horizontally.
In polishing of the micro groove, the sidewall of the grooves
promotes development of the stagnation area and controls the ow
direction along the grooves. The ow velocity is also high enough
to polish the surface by restriction of ow direction. When the
abrasive slurry is supplied to a at surface, brittle fracture is
induced by collision of the particles at large impingement angles
because of a small stagnation area. The polishing performance is
poor because the abrasive ow spreads to all direction at low
velocities.

References

Fig. 13. Change in surface nish. (a) Original, (b) polished.

on the at surface; while a crack-free surface was nished in the

groove. In order to nish a crack-free surface, the abrasive particle
should be own horizontally on the machining surface. As may be
seen from Fig. 10(a), the vertical ow does not change to horizontal
one because of the small stagnation area. Therefore, brittle fracture
on the at surface is induced by large impingement angles of the
abrasive particles around the stagnation area. When the abrasive
liquid is supplied to the surface in the groove, the sidewall of the
groove promotes the size of the stagnation area. The abrasive
particles ow horizontally at high ow velocities outside of the
stagnation area. As a consequence, a crack-free surface can be
nished with removing the cutter traces in the groove.
The polishing tests were conducted for the micro grooves
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nished by the worn tool, is shown in Fig. 12(a). Although the
surface nish was 46 nm Ra, the adhered chips and the cutter
traces were observed. The surface nish was improved to be 25 nm
after polishing, as shown in Fig. 12(b). Fig. 13 compares the AFM
image of the polished surface with that of the original surface. The
polishing performance is veried by removal of the cutter traces.

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