Air-arc cutting

Air-arc cutting

Air-arc cutting is also known as air-carbon cutting and employs a consumable carbon or graphite electrode to melt the material, which is then blown away by an air jet.

This process is useful for cutting a variety of materials, but it is most often used for cutting, and gouging aluminums, copper, iron, magnesium, and carbon and stainless steels. Because the metal is blown away by the air jet, it does not need to be oxidized. This process differs from plasma cutting operations because in air carbon cutting, an open, or unconstricted, arc is used, and the arc operates separately from the air jet [WeldGuru.com, "Let the Weld Guru guide you through the world of CAC, Carbon Arc Cutting", 2008, http://www.weldguru.com/CAC.html (April 17, 2008)] .

Air pressures for the jet usually vary from 60 to 100 psig. The carbon electrode can be worn away by oxidation from heat buildup. This can be reduced by coating the carbon electrodes in copper.

The images in the first external link below show a basic schematic of the process and the electrode holder. The sharpened carbon electrode is drawn along the metal, an arc forms and melts the metal. The air jet is then used to blow away molten material. This can be dangerous as the molten material can be blown substantial distances [Serope Kalpakjian, Steven R. Schmid, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006)] . The process is also very noisy. As seen in the second image the air jet is controlled by an air valve on the electrode holder.

References

Related articles

*Gas cutting
*Plasma-arc cutting

External links

# SweetHaven Publishing Services, “Fundamentals of Professional Engineering”, 2001, http://64.78.42.182/sweethaven/BldgConst/Welding/lessonmain.asp?lesNum=7&modNum=11 (April 17, 2008).


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Air carbon arc cutting — Air carbon arc cutting. См. Воздушно углеродная резка. (Источник: «Металлы и сплавы. Справочник.» Под редакцией Ю.П. Солнцева; НПО Профессионал , НПО Мир и семья ; Санкт Петербург, 2003 г.) …   Словарь металлургических терминов

  • Carbon arc cutting — Air carbon arc cutting is an arc cutting process where metal is cut and melted by the heat of a carbon arc. Molten metal is then removed by a blast of air.External links* [http://www.weldguru.com/CAC.html Carbon Arc Cutting at WeldGuru.com] …   Wikipedia

  • Cutting fluid — Thin wall milling of aluminum using a water based cutting fluid on the milling cutter. Cutting fluid is a type of coolant and lubricant designed specifically for metalworking and machining processes. There are various kinds of cutting fluids,… …   Wikipedia

  • Oxy-fuel welding and cutting — Oxyacetylene redirects here. For the song, see Cubanate. Side of metal, cut by oxygen propane cutting torch …   Wikipedia

  • Arc welding — uses a welding power supply to create an electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt the metals at the welding point. They can use either direct (DC) or alternating (AC) current, and consumable or non consumable electrodes.… …   Wikipedia

  • Air (film) — Infobox Film name = Air caption = American DVD cover of the film. director = Osamu Dezaki producer = Iriya Azuma Mamoru Yokota writer = Makoto Nakamura starring = Hikaru Midorikawa Tomoko Kawakami Aya Hisakawa (Japan) Vic Mignogna Monica Rial… …   Wikipedia

  • Plasma cutting — This article is about the common manufacturing process. For various fictional weapons, see plasma rifle and directed energy weapon. Plasma cutting is a process that is used to cut steel and other metals (or sometimes other materials) using a… …   Wikipedia

  • Korean Air Lines Flight 007 — Flight 007 redirects here. For other uses, see Flight 7 (disambiguation). Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Artist s rendition of HL7442, the KAL 747 lost during Flight 007 Occurrence summary …   Wikipedia

  • Gas metal arc welding — RMD redirects here. RMD may also refer to IRA Required Minimum Distributions. Gas metal arc welding …   Wikipedia

  • Electric arc — An electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. A synonym is arc discharge. The phenomenon was first described by… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”