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| APC | Autogen Process Control. It is the complete automated system for oxy-fuel cutting, a unique solution on the market. The system consists of all the necessary cutting equipment for installing oxy-fuel technology on a cutting machine or robot, its own operator interface and database of cutting parameters. The package includes gas control, height control, torch, gas hoses, safety devices, connecting cables, operator terminal and software. |
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| ARC Voltage Mode | There are applications where it is advantageous using arc voltage as a reference for the cutting height, e.g. when testing new cutting parameters or for scrap metal cutting. High quality clearance control systems offer both operator modes (cutting height mode and arc voltage mode). |
| Autogen | Auto, autonomous is an ancient Greek word. Its meaning is: to act by oneself, independently and without help. Independent and having the power to make your own decisions. Gen, generare, generate is the word from Latin. Its meaning is: to create, to produce. Today, the word Autogen means Automated oxy-fuel cutting. |
| Backfire | Momentary return of the flame into the blowpipe. (ISO 5172) |
| Capacitive height control | Common method of sensing and controlling torch height in oxy-fuel cutting. The capacitance measured by the sensor (usually a ring or plate) is converted into conventional signals which are used for continuous, real-time clearance control. |
| Corner | Whenever a cutting machine reduces its cutting speed relative to its preset speed, e.g. cutting a corner or very small circles, the arc voltage changes. The height control system tries to adapt to the change and drives down. In the worst case it can collide with the work piece. To avoid any changes in the height during these actions, all modern CNC control systems have an integrated corner function. During slow speed and abrupt changes of the arc control the control is switched off. |
| Cutbus® | Higher productivity and repeatability of cuts are achieved by the CNC control transferring the cutting data directly to the plasma source, gas console and clearance control system. The interface is called CUTBUS®, an open interface between the CNC control, clearance control, plasma source and gas console. |
| Cutting Height Mode | The cutting height mode, often called the „IHT mode“, is the better choice over the arc voltage mode, because the clearance distance between work-piece and nozzle needs to be fixed in mm or inches. The clearance of the arc voltage is automatically adapted. While the nozzle wears out the clearance is continually adjusted. Therefore, the clearance of all cuts is identical and the cutting quality is optimized. |
| Edge start | Start cutting at the edge of the material. This is easier than starting at the piercing point because the slag can be easily blown away. It is also quicker to preheat the material to ignition temperature. A hole can be pre-punched or drilled in the centre of the thicker material before cutting to provide a starting edge. |
| Elevation Height | When piercing thick plates lots of material (slag) splashes up. To protect the nozzle and therefore the consumables, the torch can be lifted to a predicted elevation height, above the pierce height. |
| Flashback | Return of the flame into the blowpipe and possibly extending into the hoses and the upstream equipment. (ISO 5172) |
| Gas pre flow | The productivity is mainly determined by the cutting speed but also by the time between two cuts, e.g. the waiting period for flushing the gas pipes in the torch. IHT clearance control systems for plasma cutting offer the function ‘gas pre flow’ designed to shorten this period. With the signal ‘start initial position finding’ the flushing of the gas pipe is initiated. |
| Kerf | In addition to the corner function, the kerfs sensing system is not available with most current cutting systems. However, the IHT kerfs recognition control system is an important feature of the torch protection and quality of the cut. When the torch travels across a kerf, thereby sensing a metal loss the arc voltage and height sensing would react immediately increasing arc voltage and driving down the torch and in the worst case the torch would collide with the work piece. The IHT controller is preventing such a rapid voltage increase and cutting height reduction by sensing and switching off the controller during kerf crossing. |
| Material piercing | If the cut starts in the centre of the sheet, the hole must first be pierced to start the cutting process. The thicker the material, the more difficult it is to pierce. The oxides (slag) cannot be blown away, only up into the machine. If the process is well managed, oxy-fuel piercing is possible up to 150 mm (6"), sometimes more. Please refer to individual product applications for detailed information. |
| Oxy-fuel cutting | It is a technology sometimes referred to as flame, gas, oxygen, autogen cutting or as burning. This technology is efficient for cutting mild steel with an unlimited range of thicknesses. However, most applications are for cutting from 3 - 300 mm (up to 12"). The principle is that the steel is preheated to its ignition temperature, which is lower than the melting temperature. A jet of pure oxygen is then applied to the material, causing an exothermic chemical reaction (oxidation or burning of the steel). The resulting oxides are blown away by the oxygen jet. Oxy-fuel cutting produces high quality and precise cuts. |
| Retract position | At the end of a cut the clearance control system does not drive back to the upper end position but to an individually chosen retract position to reach the correct position for the next cut without colliding with the metal sheet. |
| Sustained backfire | Return of the flame into the blowpipe with continued burning within the mixer. (ISO 5172) |
| Tactile Initial Position Findung | This method is essential to determine the metal surface below the nozzle for an accurate cutting height. A confident method is to touch the metal surface with the nozzle. The tactile initial position finding is the standard method used by IHT Automation for plasma cutting. Here, the metal surface is identified by softly touching the surface. The weight for touching the surface is adjustable. Contrary to the ohmic method this also works with rusty or coated metal plates. |
| Thermal cutting | It is a group of methods for cutting material in the form of plates, tubes, profiles and various blocks and usually includes oxy-fuel, plasma and laser cutting. |
| Touchless Initial Position Findung | Plasma cutting of thin sheet metal is a very challenging task, since the plates are often deformed or wavy. Tension in the plate can lead to uncontrolled swinging. The repeatability of the entire process is missing and cutting quality differs from cut to cut. The Contact Sensor will provide the best possible initial position finding by finding the plate surface with minimal touching. |