Cutting Processes

Underwater Welding
Hybrid Welding

Team Teaching
Prof. Dr. Ir. Winarto, M.Sc
Prof. Dr. Ir. Muhammad Anis, M.Met
Oktober 2021

Topic of discussion

1. Oxyfuel Gas Cutting

2. Arc Cutting and Gouging
a. Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC)
b. Air Carbon Arc Cutting (CAC-A)
c. Shielded Metal Arc Cutting (SMAC)
3. Laser Beam Cutting
4. Underwater welding
5. Hybrid Welding

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 Cutting processes

Cutting Methods

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 Classification of cutting processes

Thermal cutting processes

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 1. Oxyfuel-gas Cutting

Introduction
• The thermal cutting (TC) processes accomplish the removal of metal by means of
localized melting, burning, or vaporizing of the workpiece.
• Though all utilize heat to accomplish the cut, each process has a different principle of
operation.
• The various processes also have different applications with respect to materials and
thicknesses.
• The thermal cutting processes most widely used in industry are:
• oxyfuel gas cutting (OFC),
• plasma arc cutting (PAC),
• air carbon arc (CAC-A), and
• laser beam cutting (LBC).
OFC:
• Remove metal by the chemical reaction of oxygen with the metal at elevated temp.
• An oxyfuel gas flame is used to heat the metal and an oxygen jet is used to perform the
cutting
• OFC is also called oxygen cutting
• Many layers of metal can be cut at the same time (stack cutting)
• OFC is useful when shape-cutting metal parts

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 Gas cutting process

Gas cutting process

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 Oxyfuel Gas Cutting (OFC)

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Oxyfuel Gas Cutting (OFC)

• The OFC processes utilize the heat produced by an
oxyfuel flame to accomplish cutting.
Proses:
• The metal to be cut is heated to its kindling
temperature (the temp at which steel rapidly
oxidizes) using a fuel gas-oxygen mixture (the most
widely used fuels are acetylene, natural gas, propane,
and other special formulations).
• At this point, a high velocity stream of oxygen is
introduced, and rapid oxidation (burning) takes place.
• The reaction quickly penetrates the thickness of the
steel workpiece, with some of the molten metal
being blown out underneath.
• OFC is used extensively in the severing or gouging of
carbon steel.

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 • To perform a cut with OFC, the metal must react with oxygen to produce an
oxide. Tm oxide must < Tm of the metal being cut.
• If an oxide with a very high Tm (a refractory oxide), develop, it acts as a
protection from further oxidation. This protection barrier renders the process
ineffective. Refractory oxides develop when performing OFC with materials such
as stainless steels.
• The cutting tips used are designed:
• to provide a ring of oxyfuel gas flames  preheat the metal to its kindling
temperature.
• to produce a small-diameter, high-velocity stream of oxygen to oxidize and
remove metal, producing a narrow cut or kerf in the steel.
• The torch is moved at a speed that maintains an acceptable cut quality.
• The quality and speed of the cut depend on the design and size of the torch
tip, the distance from the steel surface, the travel speed, oxygen, and the fuel
gas pressures and resulting flow rates.

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Flame Cutting and Drag Lines

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 Oxyfuel gas cutting of mild steel 850 mm thick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R2JtlcOfBo&t=163s

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2. Arc Cutting and Gouging

• Arc Cutting (AC) covers a group of thermal cutting process that
remove metal by melting it with the heat of an arc between an
electrode and the workpiece.

• Thermal gouging is a thermal cutting process variation that removes

metal by melting or burning the entire removed portion, to form a
bevel or groove.

Types of AC (for cutting or gouging):

a. PAC (Plasma Arc Cutting d. Gas Metal Arc Cutting (GMAC)
b. CAC-A (Air Carbon Arc Cutting) e. Gas Tungsten Arc Cutting (GTAC)
c. SMAC (Shielded Metal Arc Cutting) f. Oxygen Arc Cutting (AOC)
g. Carbon Arc Cutting (CAC)

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 Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC) System

Plasma (Cutting) Gas Selection

• Selecting the proper gas for the material you are cutting is critical to get a
quality cut.
• Plasma gas is also called the cutting gas. This is the gas that is ionised in the
plasma process and exits through the nozzle orifice.
• Examples of plasma gas are:
• Air Shielded Gas Selection
• Oxygen • The shield is the secondary gas in the plasma process. It surrounds the arc
• Nitrogen and is used to help constrict the arc and cool torch. It creates and protects
• Argon-Hydrogen the cutting environment which among other things affects the edge quality.
Examples of shielding gas are Air, CO2, Oxygen-Nitrogen, Air-Methane,
Nitrogen, and Methane

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Process of PAC
• Accurate cuts can be made in stainless steel
and non-ferrous metals such as Al by PAC.
• The cuts are made by a high temperature,
high velocity gas jet generated by
constricting an arc between a tungsten
electrode and the component.
• The heat from the arc melts the metal and
the gas jet removes the molten metal from
the cut.

• The arc operates in an inert inner shield, whilst an outer shield provides protection for the
cut surface.
• Ar, He, nitrogen and mixtures of these gases are used for both the inner and outer shields.
• PAC is characterized by fast cutting speeds and is mainly used in mechanized systems.
• The cutting is accompanied by a high noise level which can be reduced by operating the
torch under water.
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 Plasma cutting process

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Plasma cutting process

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 Plasma cutting process

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Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ7pfjtlVUk&t=215s

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 Air Carbon Arc Cutting (CAC-A)
• CAC-A is a process of removing metal by means of heat generated from a
carbon arc with a jet of air.
• In CAC-A, the intense heat arc created between a carbon-graphite
electrode and the workpiece melts a portion of the workpiece. At the
same time, the molten metal is blown away by the compressed air.
• CAC-A is commonly used for cutting SS, C-steel, and Cu-alloys, brass, Al,
and Mg.
• The main purpose of CAC-A: is to remove defective or old welds in order
to repair or dismantle the equipment. Unlike OFC (oxy-fuel cutting), CAC-A
avoids the need for the oxidation of the metal to be cut. The rate of metal
removal is based on the efficiency of air-jet in removing molten metal and
the melting rate.

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How Does Air Carbon Arc Cutting Work?

• In CAC-A, an intense arc is used to form a molten pool on a metal workpiece, and
compressed air is used for blowing the molten metal thoroughly from the metal surface.
• It is important that the metal is only gouged or cut along the airflow direction.
Moreover, the appropriate arc length has to be maintained to completely remove the
molten metal.

The components required for CAC-A are listed below:

• Power source: CAC-A requires a three-phase welding power source with high capacity.
The arc voltage required to perform this process should be in the range of 35 to 56 V.
• Compressed Air: with pressures in the range of 80-100 psi can be used.
• Electrode - Three types of electrodes can be used for the CAC-A process. The most
widely used electrodes are DC copper-coated electrodes that are formed by combining
the carbon-graphite mixture with a binder.
• Gouging Torch - A swivel head on the torch holds the electrode in one or more air
holes. Usually, torches are air-cooled. Sometimes, water-cooled cables are used along
with heavy-duty torches for high-current applications.
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 Air Carbon Arc Cutting (CAC-A)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF24n8s9Qlw&t=113s

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Laser Beam Cutting (LBC) and Laser Beam Drilling (LBD)

• Lasers Beam Welding (LBW), is used to weld materials that are too thin or too hard to be
welded with other heat sources.
• Laser Beam Cutting (LBC), is used to cut material without overheating delicate parts that
might be located just a few thousandths of an inch away. It is a thermal cutting process
that removes material by locally melting or vaporizing with the heat from a laser beam
with or without assist gas to aid the removal of molten and vaporized material.
• Laser Beam Drilling (LBD), is used to drill holes the hardest materials, such as synthetic
diamonds, tungsten carbide cutting tools, quartz, glass, or ceramics. It is a laser pulsed
operation involving higher power densities and shorter dwell times than laser cutting.

• LBC and LBD are two completely different processes for removing material.
LBC LBD
requires simultaneous action of a requires merely a pulsed laser with beam
focused laser beam and an assist gas focused. When the focused beam strikes a
jet  produce a kerf in the workpiece surface, material is melted and vaporized
material is violently ejected, forming a hole.

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 Laser cutting process

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Laser cutting process

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 Laser Beam Cutting (LBC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-RU2aWwUWs&t=60s

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Water Jet Cutting

• It is also called hydrodynamic machining, cuts a wide variety of
materials, both nonmetals and metals, using a high-velocity
water jet.
• The jet is formed by forcing water through a very small orifice
(diameter of 0.1-0.6 mm) under high pressure (200-400 MPa)
 Jet with velocities range from 520-914 m/s  erodes
material rapidly, acting like a saw blade.
• Metals and other hard materials are cut by adding an abrasive
in powder form to water stream. The abrasive particles are
accelerated by the water and accomplish most of the cutting.

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 Water Jet Cutting

 Water jet cutting uses a jet of water, which can cut materials under
high pressure of approximately 100-600 MPa.
 Water jet cutting methods can be categorized into straight water jet
method that uses a jet of water only, and abrasive-jet method that
uses an abrasive mixed in water jet stream

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Water Jet Cutting

 Water jet cutting can be used for most materials including papers,
rubbers and metals.

 In abrasive-type water jet cutting, the cutting material is abraded by

collision of the abrasive accelerated by water jet stream onto the
cutting material; this method is used for cutting metals.

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 Water Jet Cutting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlacOX68OME&t=87s

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Cutting Accuracy

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 Cutting Cost

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Underwater Welding

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Application of Underwater Dry

Welding

Mini Habitat

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Video on underwater welding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l2k66I5QGs&t=12s

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 Hybrid Welding

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Hybrid Welding
• Hybrid laser-arc welding is a joining process simultaneously combining arc and laser
welding in the same weld pool.
• In theory, the beam from any welding laser source (CO2 , Nd:YAG, diode, Yb fibre,
Yb:YAG disk etc) can be combined with any arc process (MIG/MAG, TIG, SAW, plasma).
• Typically, however, hybrid laser-MIG/MAG and laser-TIG are the most common process
combinations.
• The hybrid process has the individual advantages of both welding processes.
• Deep penetration hybrid welds can be made, comparable with the penetration
depths achieved by laser welds, but at the same time having a tolerance to joint fit-
up and a weld cap profile more comparable with arc welds.
• Arc welding consumables (and gas mixtures) can be used, offering a degree of
control over weld quality and properties than is possible with autogenous laser
welding.

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 Hybrid Welding
Hybrid welding is already being used by the following industries:
• Road transport – the high welding speed of the hybrid process is attractive
to the high production volume environments found in the automotive
industry, especially given the greater part fit-up tolerance than that of
autogenous laser welding.
• Shipbuilding – the lower heat input and distortion introduced when hybrid
welding, when compared with MAG welding or SAW, reduces the costs
associated with distortion correction and rework. By contrast, conventional
arc welding methods and their associated re-work have been estimated to
constitute up to 20-30% of overall manufacturing costs.

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Hybrid Welding
Hybrid welding is already being used, by the following industries:
• Rail transport – as in shipbuilding, the low distortion that can result from
hybrid railcar seam welding, compared with conventional arc welding
processes, is of interest as a means of reducing fabrication costs, as well as
the higher welding speeds reducing overall welding time.
• Oil and gas – the hybrid welding of pipes has been well demonstrated, and
with continuing developments in laser sources and pipe steels, continues to
be of interest as a future means of increasing overall joint completion rates,
depending on steel grades used and operating environment requirements.

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 Hybrid Welding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u8wvwQhWv8

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Laser Hybrid Welding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1VHNXiz-XE

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Hybrid Welding LBW-TIG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIP2MujfYA

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 Hybrid Welding Laser – MAG Welding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YM3j1tUU98

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ANY QUESTIONS ?

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