Acceptable Cutting Distance and Feed Rate Values for Sheet Metal Plasma Cutting

Based on operational parameters such as feed rate and cutting distance, efficient plasma cutting operations are verified when the items’ dimensions match the projected values. However, acceptable feed rate and cutting distance values are often difficult to verify in scientific articles, catalogs, and manuals. Thus, the main objective of this research is to define acceptable cutting distance and feed rate values for sheet metal plasma cutting. The simulation was developed with the definition of operational parameters values based on the HyperthermR machine, followed by instances characterization, speed dimensional quality variation, distance dimensional quality variation, and cutting layout generation using a bottom-left-fill heuristic combined with tabu search. A cutting distance of 2.8 mm and a feed rate of 2477 mm/min are recommended for SAE 1020 steel, considering a 5 mm thickness, 1.1 mm kerf width, and oxygen gas.