Experimental Investigations on Plasma Cutting of Medium Carbon Steel

Abstract

Air plasma cutting technology is widely used for cutting complex profiles, geometrics, shapes, and sections in electrically conducting materials at high speed. It has the flexibility to change the cutting current, gas pressure, cutting speed, and standoff distance to maintain the desired quality of the surface to be cut. In this experimental work, 10 mm thick, EN-8 steel plates were cut using plasma cutting and their effect on cut surface quality was studied. Total sixteen experiments with compressed air were conducted using a full-factorial design of experiments to identify the optimum ranges of process parameters. The cut surface quality was analyzed in terms of kerf width, dross height, bevel angle, and average surface roughness. The microstructure study of the cut surfaces reveals that the melting and blasting action mechanism of material removal in the plasma cutting. The microhardness study suggests more microhardness over the top region of samples than that of the bottom region. The outcome of this study would be beneficial for the researcher and engineers working in the area of plasma-assisted cutting of metals. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2026.