Possibilities of cost effective plasma cutting application

The paper explains specifics of the plasma cutting technology from the cost effective criteria and possible surface quality achievements point of view. Plasma technology had great improvements in the last several years. Today, it is possible to achieve very fine cutting surface and very precise cutting tolerance which are comparable with laser cutting surface and cutting tolerance. The plasma cutting equipment costs are lower then for the laser cutting, but plasma cutting require additional costs related to human and environment protection. In this paper authors present overview of plasma cutting technology application in our practice, possibilities of use in our circumstances and application example of simple air plasma equipment for cutting different engineering materials.