While fabricators in other parts of the world know the benefits of a pulsed arc for plasma-arc cutting metal-fabrication shops in the United States are just learning what the refined and precise pulsed plasma arc can do for them. In mid-1999, independent consultant Leo Wildenthaler had the opportunity to work with a model PF-60 air-plasma-arc-cutting machine at the Panasonic Factory Automation Applications Laboratories in Franklin Park, IL. The 60-amp unit runs in three cutting modes-non-contact, contact and pulsed; operates with single- or three-phase input; and slices through material to 1 3/8 in. thick. It is highly portable, weighing in at 60 lb."The ability to pulse the arc," says Wildenthaler, "delivers cost-saving advantages when cutting thin-gauge work. Tests revealed that kerf width is reduced by 50 percent-a 1/16-in. kerf, for example, cutting 16-gauge sheet with a conventional plasma arc, will be reduced by 50 percent to about 1/32 in. in the pulsed mode. That means significant savings in material costs to the fabricator. Switching the PF-60 to pulsed cutting also allowed me to cut faster on thin sheetmetal, and to minimize or eliminate any warping since heat input is controlled and minimized."
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