SBIR Phase I: Long-Life Nozzles for Abrasive-Slurry-Jet Cutting

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将测试用于磨料浆料射流(ASJ)刀具的实用喷嘴的可行性。几位研究人员已经证明，与传统的磨料水射流(AWJ)工具相比，ASJ切割延展性和脆性材料的速度最高可达4-8倍，切割质量相同。然而，ASJ目前没有使用(低水射速度除外)，因为喷嘴的寿命很短，磨料浆通过喷嘴加速，因此不经济，即使使用钻石喷嘴也是如此。为了实现ASJ切割的已知好处，根据计算流体力学(CFD)分析，发明了新的喷嘴设计，这些新的喷嘴设计有望产生经济诱人的寿命。该项目将通过CFD分析来优化设计，然后测试一个放大的、低喷射速度的气流模型，该模型可以准确模拟流体的流线、颗粒轨迹和颗粒对喷嘴内表面的冲击。根据该模型数据，可以预测冲蚀速率和喷管寿命。一项分析将受到影响，以证明这些创新的ASJ喷嘴用于切割金属、陶瓷、复合材料和玻璃的经济可行性。该项目的更广泛影响可能是大幅降低成本，并可能为工业提供一种优越的工具，能够切割任何材料而不会造成热损害。目前AWJ的全球市场规模约为3亿美元/年。仅美国的金属切割工具市场就超过35亿美元。ASJ切割应该会迅速增长，占据高达4亿美元的金属切割市场，并主导脆性材料的切割。实用的ASJ切割将提供新的商机、就业机会和独特的出口产品。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will test the feasibility of practical nozzles for abrasive slurry jet (ASJ) cutting tools. ASJ has been shown by several researchers to cut malleable and brittle material up to 4-8 times faster, with the same cut quality, compared to conventional abrasive water jet (AWJ) tools. However, ASJ is not employed today (except at low water-jet velocities) because the life of the nozzle, through which the abrasive slurry accelerates, is very short and hence uneconomical, even with diamond nozzles. In order to realize the known benefits of ASJ cutting, new nozzle designs have been invented according to computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis, these new nozzle designs promise to yield economically attractive life. The project will refine the designs with CFD analysis and then test a scaled-up, airflow model with low jet velocity, which accurately simulates both the fluid's streamlines; the particle trajectories and particle impacts against the nozzle's internal surfaces. From this modeling data, erosion rates and nozzle life will be predicted. An analysis will be affected in order to demonstrate the economic feasibility of these innovative ASJ nozzles for cutting metal, ceramics, composites and glasses.The broader impacts from this project could be a large reduction in costs and could provide industry with a superior tool, which is able to cut any material without thermal damage. The AWJ world market today is about $300 millions/year. The U.S. market, alone, for metal cutting tools, is over $3.5 billion. ASJ cutting should grow rapidly to command as much as $400 million of the metal-cutting market and to dominate the cutting of brittle materials. Practical ASJ cutting will provide a new business opportunity, jobs and a unique export product.