Study of Air Arc Plasma Cutting as a High-Accuracy Cutting Process

Abstract

Air arc plasma cutting, which does not requires special orifice gas, is applicable to a wide range of small-to-medium-sized manufacturing industries because it is simple and economical. However, one of its limitations is that angular precision of the bevel produced by this method is inferior to other cutting methods, thereby preventing its widespread use by industries that require high cutting precision. The author investigated the specifications of a general-purpose arc plasma cutting machine of the swirling-flow type currently available in Japan, focusing on the plasma the parameters that can provide higher quality cutting and match the performance of oxygen arc plasma cutting. The investigation was performed under operating conditions that differ from those recommended by the manufacturer.