THE INFLUENCE OF THE CONSTRUCTIVE FEATURES OF THE PLASMOTRON ON THE QUALITY OF THE CUT DURING AIR-PLASMA CUTTING OF SHEET METALS
The features of structure formation in the heat-affected zone, which are formed in the process of plasma cutting of 10 mm and 36 mm thick St3ps steel sheets, are presented. Cutting of thick steel is accompanied by high carburization, increasing hardness of the surface layer, and increasing surface roughness parameters. The research results allow us to conclude that the developed PMVR-9.1 plasmatron makes it possible to perform sufficiently high-quality cutting of sheet steel with a thickness of up to 40 mm and more. However, butt welding after plasma cutting without preliminary machining can be performed for a steel thickness of 10 mm.