Experimental study of the effect of gas nature on plasma arc cutting of mild steel

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the experimental investigation of arc cutting of mild steel using plasmas generated in gas and liquid media. Due to different chemical compositions, the examined media have different thermophysical properties, which affect the properties of the generated plasma and cutting performance. The experiments are performed on 15mm mild steel plates using commercial equipment at 60A to approach real operation conditions in application areas. The studied gases are chosen according to recommendations of the world’s leading manufacturers of arc cutting equipment for mild steel. Specific differences between plasma gases are discussed from the point of view of properties of the gas and the generated plasma, amount of removed material, kerf shape and overall energy balance of the cutting process. The paper describes the role of exothermic reaction of iron oxidation for oxygen cutting and explains its neglect for liquid cutting. This paper explains the potential of