OBRABOTKA METALLOV
METAL WORKING AND MATERIAL SCIENCEPrint ISSN: 1994-6309 Online ISSN: 2541-819X
Introduction. Plasma cutting of various metals and alloys is one of the most productive processes for obtaining workpieces, especially when using reverse polarity plasmatrons. The use of plasma cutting in the production of workpieces of large thicknesses potentially allows to increase the productivity of the process. In the domestic industry plasma cutting equipment of foreign production is widely used, which poses the problem of import substitution of manufactured products and equipment with the corresponding parts of Russian companies. For this reason, at present the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science together with the company "ITS Siberia" develops plasma cutting equipment on reverse polarity currents. At the same time, in order to determine the peculiarities of influence of parameters and modes of plasma cutting process on the structure of metal in the cutting zone, it is necessary to conduct comparative studies on different metals and alloys. Aim of the work: is to identify the characteristics of the influence of high energy impact on the structure and properties of surface layers of aluminum and titanium alloys during plasma cutting using a plasma torch operating with reverse polarity currents. The research methods are optical metallography, microhardness measurement and laser scanning microscopy of the surface after plasma cutting. Results and discussions. The conducted researches show a wide range of possibilities to adjust the process parameters of plasma cutting of aluminum alloys AA5056 and AA2124, and titanium alloy Grade2. For the alloys used in this work there are optimal values of process parameters, deviations from which lead to various violations of cut quality. Aluminum alloys show a tendency to significant de-strengthening in the cutting zone, which is associated with the formation of a large crystalline structure and large incoherent secondary phases with simultaneous depletion of the solid solution with alloying elements. Titanium alloys are characterized by quenching effects in the cutting zone with increasing microhardness values. Oxides are also formed in the surface layers despite the use of nitrogen shielding gas. In the alloy Ti-4Al-1Mn, in the previously conducted works, the formation of oxide films with high hardness is not noted, while in the Grade2 alloy at cutting in the surface layers oxides are formed sharply increasing the values of microhardness of the material up to values of about 15 GPa. This situation can complicate mechanical processing of titanium alloys after plasma cutting. The obtained results indicate a rather low value of the allowance for further machining after plasma cutting of aluminum and titanium alloys.
Rubtsov Valery
Panfilov Alexander
Knyazhev Evgeny
Nikolaeva Aleksandra
Cheremnov Andrey
Gusarova Anastasia
Beloborodov Vladimir
Chumaevskii Andrey
Grinenko Artem
Kolubaev Evgeny
1. Murua J., Ibañez I., Dianova A., Domínguez-Meister S., Larrañaga O., Larrañaga A., Braceras I. Tribological and electric contact resistance properties of pulsed plasma duplex treatments on a low alloy steel. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2016, vol. 454, p. 129155. DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2022.129155.
2. Kolubaev A.V., Sizova O.V., Denisova Yu.A., Leonov A.A., Teryukalova N.V., Novitskaya O.S., Byeli A.V. Structure and properties of CrN/TiN multilayer coatings produced by cathodic arc plasma deposition on copper and beryllium-copper alloy. Physical Mesomechanic, 2022, vol. 25 (4), pp. 306–317. DOI: 10.1134/S102995992204004X.
3. Wang L., Zhang F., Ma H., He S., Yin F. Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of plasma sprayed AlCoCrFeNi2.1 eutectic high-entropy alloy coatings. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2023, vol. 471, p. 129924. DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2023.129924.
4. Akkurt A. The effect of cutting process on surface microstructure and hardness of pure and Al 6061 aluminium alloy. Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal, 2015, vol. 18 (3), pp. 303–308. DOI: 10.1016/j.jestch.2014.07.004.
5. Ilii S.M., Coteata M. Plasma arc cutting cost. International Journal of Material Forming, 2009, vol. 2 (1), pp. 689–692. DOI: 10.1007/s12289-009-0588-4.
6. Bini R., Colosimo B.M., Kutlu A.E., Monno M. Experimental study of the features of the kerf generated by a 200A high tolerance plasma arc cutting system. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2008, vol. 196 (1–3), pp. 345–355. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2007.05.061.
7. Patel P., Nakum B., Abhishek K., Rakesh Kumar V., Kumar A. Optimization of surface roughness in plasma arc cutting of AISID2 steel using TLBO. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2018, vol. 5, iss. 9 (3), pp. 18927–18932. DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2018.06.242.
8. Hoult A.P., Pashby I.R., Chan K. Fine plasma cutting of advanced aerospace materials. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 1995, vol. 48 (1–4), pp. 825–831. DOI: 10.1016/0924-0136(94)01727-I.
9. Nandan Sharma D., Ram Kumar J. Optimization of dross formation rate in plasma arc cutting process by response surface method. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2020, vol. 32 (3), pp. 354–357. DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.01.605.
10. Gariboldi E., Previtali B. High tolerance plasma arc cutting of commercially pure titanium. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2005, vol. 160 (1), pp. 77–89. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.366.
11. Gostimirovic M., Rodic D., Sekulic M., Aleksic A. An experimental analysis of cutting quality in plasma arc machining. Advanced Technologies & Materials, 2020, vol. 45 (1), pp. 1–8. DOI: 10.24867/ATM-2020-1-001.
12. Cinar Z., Asmael M., Zeeshan Q. Developments in plasma arc cutting (PAC) of steel alloys: A review. Jurnal Kejuruteraan, 2018, vol. 30 (1), pp. 7–16. DOI: 10.17576/jkukm-2018-30(1)-02.
13. Kudrna L., Fries J., Merta M. Influences on plasma cutting quality on CNC machine. Multidisciplinary Aspects of Production Engineering, 2019, vol. 2 (1), pp. 108–117. DOI: 10.2478/mape-2019-0011.
14. Anakhov S.V., Guzanov B.N., Matushkin A.V., Pugacheva N.B., Pykin Y.A. Vliyanie konstruktivnykh osobennostei plazmotrona na kachestvo reza pri pretsizionnoi vozdushno-plazmennoi razdelke metalla [Influence of plasma torch design on cutting quality during precision air-plasma cutting of metal]. Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedenii. Chernaya Metallurgiya = Izvestiya. Ferrous Metallurgy, 2020, vol. 63 (2), pp. 155–162. DOI: 10.17073/0368-0797-2020-2-155-162.
15. Peko I., Maric D., Nedic B., Samardzic I. Modeling and optimization of cut quality responses in plasma jet cutting of aluminium alloy EN AW-5083. Materials, 2021, vol. 14 (19), p. 5559. DOI: 10.3390/ma14195559.
16. Salonitis K., Vatousianos S. Experimental investigation of the plasma arc cutting process. Procedia CIRP, 2012, vol. 3, pp. 287–292. DOI: 10.1016/j.procir.2012.07.050.
17. Suresh A., Diwakar G. Optimization of process parameters in plasma arc cutting for TWIP steel plates. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2021, vol. 38 (5), pp. 2417–2424. DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.383.
18. Rubtsov V.E., Panfilov A.O., Knyazhev E.O., Nikolaeva A.V., Cheremnov A.M., Gusarova A.V., Beloborodov V.A., Chumaevskii A.V., Ivanov A.N. Otrabotka metodiki plazmennoi rezki medi marki M1, alyuminievogo splava D16T i titanovogo splava OT4-1 s ispol'zovaniem plazmotrona s obratnoi polyarnost'yu [Development of plasma cutting technique for C1220 copper, AA2024 aluminum alloy, and Ti-1,5Al-1,0Mn titanium alloy using a plasma torch with reverse polarity]. Obrabotka metallov (tekhnologiya, oborudovanie, instrumenty) = Metal Working and Material Science, 2022, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 33–52. DOI: 10.17212/1994-6309-2022-24.4-33-52.
19. Matushkina I., Anakhov S., Pyckin Yu. Design of a new gas-dynamic stabilization system for a metal-cutting plasma torch. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2021, vol. 2094, p. 042075. DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/2094/4/042075.
20. Shchitsyn V.Yu., Yazovskikh V.M. Effect of polarity on the heat input into the nozzle of a plasma torch. Welding International, 2002, vol. 16 (6), pp. 485–487. DOI: 10.1080/09507110209549563.
Funding:
The results were obtained in the framework of the Integrated Project “Establishment of production of high-tech equipment for adaptive high-precision plasma heavy cutting of non-ferrous metals for the metallurgical, aerospace and transport industries of the Russian Federation” (Agreement No. 075-11-2022-012 dated April 06, 2022) implemented by the ISPMS SB RAS at the financial support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation as part of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 218 dated April 09, 2010.
Acknowledgements:
Research were partially conducted at core facility “Structure, mechanical and physical properties of materials”.
Rubtsov V.E., Panfilov A.O., Knyazhev E.O., Nikolaeva A.V., Cheremnov A.M., Gusarova A.V., Beloborodov V.A., Chumaevskii A.V., Grinenko A.V., Kolubaev E.A. Influence of high-energy impact during plasma cutting on structure and properties of surface layers of aluminum and titanium alloys. Obrabotka metallov (tekhnologiya, oborudovanie, instrumenty) = Metal Working and Material Science, 2023, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 216–231. DOI: 10.17212/1994-6309-2023-25.4-216-231. (In Russian).
