| This thesis investigated the effects of polymer concentration and nozzle design on jet stability for polymeric abrasive slurry-jet channel machining in glass. Conical nozzle contractions, having angles of 180°, 60°, 30°, and 20°, were used with aqueous polyethylene oxide (PEO) polymer solutions, having concentrations of 100, 200, and 300 ppm. Channels were machined in glass using slurries containing 1 wt% of 10 mum aluminum oxide particles, made from the same four working fluids used to study jet oscillation.;Jet oscillation was found to increase nonlinearly with polymer concentration for all contraction geometries. As a result of the effect of the varying degrees of jet oscillation, a clear relationship was found between the polymer concentration and the channel width. Flow visualization within the nozzle confirmed the presence of vortices that have been associated with jet instability, but did not reveal a clear reason for the changes in jet stability. |
