The Efficiency Of A Hypertherm Plasma Cutter
Plasma does not occur naturally on earth’s surface as it is the forth and last state of matter known to matter. Plasma is formed due to elevated temperatures when atoms attain extremely high energy and ionizes into electrons and nuclei. Plasma is a very an excellent conductor of electricity.
The process of plasma cutting makes use of an inert gas or compressed air at high pressures. This gas is allowed to pass at high velocity through a nozzle to the surface being cut. At the same time an electrical arc is formed which converts some of the gas into plasma. This hot liquid plasma is sufficient to melt the respective metal and the liquid property enhances the movement of molten metal away from the surface of the metal.
The greatest advantage of plasma cutters over other conventional equipment is it can cut metal which are conductors of electricity. It is also capable of cutting most metals such as copper, stainless steel, cast iron, mild steel aluminum, G.I. sheets or any other metals which is capable of conducting electricity.
There are many varieties of plasma cutters available in the market today, that employ unique and innovative technologies to achieve the cutting effect. Esab is one of the leading suppliers of Plasma cutters. Plasma cutters are widely preferred to their counter parts because they can cut the various metals quickly without leaving any residue behind. Another supplier of plasma cutters Lincoln Electric is renown name for their high welding and Pro-Cut plasma cutting systems
When compared to gas cutters which have higher operating cost, this type of plasma cutters have proved to be more economical. The operation is quite easy to use and consumes minimal amounts of electricity and gas. Another advantage of this type of plasma cutter is that it does not use flammable gases. It is capable of operating on single gas or on electricity alone. For certain unique applications, compressed air and even Nitrogen can be used.
Conventional gas cutters such as oxygen gas cutters are incapable of cutting electricity conducting metals where as the plasma cutters are excellent for using on metals that conduct electricity. Therefore, it has a distinct advantage and is more acceptable than other plasma cutters.
Since these cutters can be used for cutting metals over a wide range of thickness, the size of the plasma cutter for various operations may vary. For cutting thin metals, equipment with built in air compressors are generally used. But for application on thicker metals, it might require an external air compressor unit. Therefore it is important to calculate the thickness of the metal that needs to be cut before purchasing the equipment.
Many of the modern plasma cutters come equipped with the new CAD software, this allows the operator of the plasma cutter to easily create a large variety of designs, and many CNC cutters are supplied with CAD software.
A word of caution, it is mandatory that all operators of hypertherm plasma cutters should make use of safety equipment.
