Date of Graduation

5-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MSIE)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Industrial Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Harry Pierson

Committee Member

Ed Pohl

Second Committee Member

Shengfan Zhang

Keywords

ablation, cleaning, robotic pressure washing, simulation, Waterjet

Abstract

Industrial high-pressure waterjet cleaning is common to many industries. The modeling in this paper functions inside a collaborative robotic framework for high mix, low volume processes where human robot collaboration is beneficial. Automation of pressure washing is desirable for economic and ergonomic reasons. An automated cleaning system needs path simulation and analysis to give the operator insight into the predicted cleaning performance of the system. In this paper, ablation, the removal of a substrate coating by waterjet, is modeled for robotic cleaning operations. The model is designed to work with complex parts often found in spray cleaning operations, namely parts containing hidden portions, holes, or concavities. Experimentation is used to validate and calibrate the ablation model to yield accurate evaluations for how well every feature of a part is cleaned based on the cumulative effect of water affecting the part surface. The ablation model will provide the foundation for optimizing process parameters for robotic waterjet cleaning.

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