ANALYSIS OF DUST-PARTICLE EMISSIONS DURING THE CUTTING OF S460 TOOL STEEL
Abstract
Oxyfuel cutting and plasma cutting were investigated with respect to the particulate emissions generated during the cutting of SIHARD S460 cold-work tool steel. The aim of the study was to compare the amount and characteristics of the particles emitted during the two cutting processes. Particles were collected by sampling and analyzed gravimetrically, while their size, morphology, and chemical composition were characterized using FEG-SEM and EDXS. The results indicated that oxyfuel cutting generated higher particulate emissions than plasma cutting, with emission rates of 0.096 g/h and 0.066 g/h, respectively. Oxyfuel cutting produced a higher fraction of particles below 1.75 µm, while particles larger than 5.5 µm were observed only for plasma cutting. All the analyzed particles were smaller than 10 µm. EDXS analysis further revealed that a substantial fraction of the collected particulate matter consisted of metal oxide particles formed during thermal cutting. Overall, oxyfuel cutting was identified as the more intensive source of fine particulate emissions during the processing of SIHARD S460 steel.
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