Talk:Plasma cutting

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[edit] Picture

It would be awesome to have a picture of plasma cutting in action taken through welding glass, showing what the operator sees. ―BenFrantzDale 04:02, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Metal plasma?

The article implies that the metal is turned to plasma. From watching the process it seems much more plausible that the metal is primarily liquified (and maybe also vaporized) but that it is primarily the inert gas which is the plasma. ―BenFrantzDale 05:32, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I corrected the intro to match my understanding which also matches the description found from the HowThingsWork.com link. ―BenFrantzDale 01:18, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flow Rate; rambling

I'm skeptical of the 15,000 km/h flow rate quoted here and in some of the links. At very least it seems misleading. My sense is that one molecule of inert gas doesn't stay plasma for very long. The gas jet without plasma is fast, but ridiculously fast. My hunch, then, is that the heated gas and plasma may be ridiculously fast, but that the mass flow rate doesn't change when the arc is on versus off. In other words, if you heat flowing gas from ~300 K to ~30,000 K, it will move 100 times faster. ―BenFrantzDale 04:32, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

At 15,000 km/h, a flow with a 1 cm² cross section would go through 14.7 cubic feet per second (i.e., you could empty a scuba tank in 5.4 seconds). ―BenFrantzDale 04:32, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

1² cm cross section? Most nozzles are .020-.090 inches (~.0026 cm² to .041 cm²) Might yield more realistic calculations, plus the whole temperature thing.71.252.248.7 03:50, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

It's not a pure plasma. Only a portion of the gas passing through the nozzle is ionized. The flow rate DOES change, as the plasma reacts to the electric field in the torch and on the workpiece. - Toastydeath 04:24, 5 December 2006 (UTC)