2. PLASMA ARC CUTTING
• Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC) is defined as "an arc
cutting process that severs metal by melting a
localized area with a constricted electric arc
which removes the molten material with a high
velocity jet of hot, ionized gas issuing from the
constricting orifice." Plasma arcs operate
typically at temperature of 18.000˚ - 25.000˚F
(10.000˚ - 14.000˚C)
3. APPLICATION
The first commercial application of plasma arc cutting was the
mechanized cutting of manway holes on aluminum railroad tank
cars. The process has since been used on a wide variety of
aluminum applications.
Manual plasma arc cutting is widely used in automobile body repair
for cutting high-strength low alloy steel. Instant starting and high
travel speeds reduce heat input to the HSLA steel and help maintain
its strength.
The chief application of mechanized plasma arc cutting to carbon
steel is for thicknesses up to 1/2 in. (13 mm).
4. `
The higher cost of plasma arc equipment compared to OFC
equipment can be justified by its higher cutting speeds.
The plasma process has been used for stack cutting of carbon steel,
stainless steel, and aluminum.
The plates to be stack cut should preferably be clamped together,
but PAC can tolerate wider gaps between plates than OFC.
