Effect of Plasma Input Power and Feeding Speed on the Surface Temperatures of Stainless Steel 316L During Plasma Assisted Milling

By heating up the workpiece metal and softening it thermally in front of conventional cutting tool, plasma assisted milling is expected to improve the cutting performance and tool-life without using cutting oil and coolant [1]. Accordingly, it is essential to understand the effects of the operation condition of milling machine combined with a plasma torch on the surface temperatures of the selected workpiece before applying this technology to the specific materials. For this purpose, the surface temperatures of stainless steel 316L were measured using an IR (Infra-Red) thermometer for three different cutting speed (150,200, 250 mm/min) by varying plasma input powers. In addition, the measured results were compared with the analytic solution, which was derived for moving surface heat source with square shape [2].