Plasma cutting machines

PLASMA

— cutting metal with a jet of heated ionized gas (plasma). The gas is supplied under high pressure through a special nozzle, and it turns into plasma due to the action of an electric arc (the arc itself is only an auxiliary element of the process and may not affect the processed materials at all). This makes it possible to reach a jet temperature of several tens of thousands of degrees and speeds above the speed of sound, due to which the metal being cut instantly melts and is literally “blown out” of the workpiece. All this happens in the environment of another gas, which plays the role of a protective shell. Plasma cutting combines high speed with good quality, moreover, it is safer than classic gas cutting. Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting the high cost of the devices, as well as some difficulty in application (due to the need to supply two gases).