Public Schools North Co c s oast RTO 90162 O

MEM20105 Cer M rtificate II in Eng gineering g

Unit 8 Hea ating an Therm Cut nd mal tting The eory Mod dule

Unit of compete ency:

MEM M05007C Perform man C nual hea ating and thermal cutting g

ame: ______ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ ____ Student Na

Safety When Welding and Thermal Cutting.

A welding and thermal cutting area is a potentially unsafe area. You should know and understand the equipment and materials that you are working with. The following rules will help to ensure that your thermal cutting experiences are safe and successful. Do not leave a lit blowpipe by itself. Be aware of the location of fire extinguishers. Do not use faulty or damaged equipment. Oxy-acetylene cylinders should be secured to a trolley, wall or bench. Keep the welding and cutting area clear. Be careful with the flame. Do not use heat on any container that might have contained fuel or any other inflammable material. Be careful of others working around you. Keep hoses out of the walkway. Do not wear loose clothing or clothing known to be highly flammable. Do not take short cuts. Mark or put to one side metal that is hot.

Personal safety when thermal cutting.

Radiant Heat. When using a manual cutting hand piece, your hands and arms are in close proximity to the flame. When cutting larger plates, or steel sections, the flame and heat from the steel is radiated back towards you. Proper protective clothing will protect you from burns, and make cutting a more comfortable operation. Low flammable materials such as close weave cotton and denim, or full body overalls are most suitable. Synthetic materials are not suitable, as they can ignite, and will melt to skin resulting in severe burns. Do not pick up hot steel even with thick leather gloves. The heat can quickly transfer through the gloves resulting in burns. Molten slag. Most of the material that is blown from the cut is molten slag. The oxygen blast will cause it to bounce off nearby surfaces, producing a severe burn hazard. Correct protective clothing, heavy leather gloves, leather jacket and spats, which prevent slag getting into your boots, all help minimise the risk of burns. Leather helmets, or at the least a hat are often worn to prevent stray bits burning your head or dropping down the back of your neck.. Cutting on a specially made bench, with an area underneath designed to contain the molten slag reduces the risk of burns and fires. Eye Protection. Oxy welding and cutting goggles come supplied with a number 5 lens. Eye damage will not occur from looking at the oxy/acetylene flame. However, the goggles allow you to see exactly what is happening while cutting, by reducing the glare. They prevent eye strain, or fatigue, that results from looking at bright light. Dont cut without goggles. Dont use sunglasses instead of goggles. Fumes. Painted, galvanised, powder coated and oily, or greasy surfaces will all give off fumes that are potentially toxic. Avoid cutting these surfaces, or clean them before cutting. Work in a well ventilated area. Look after the equipment. Never use the cutting torch as a hammer to remove cut steel. Check the regulator and hose condition before cutting, and keep the flame away from the bottles and hoses while cutting. Make sure the molten slag is not going onto the hoses. You are responsible for the safety of others. You are responsible not only for your own safety, but also the safety of other people around you. If they are not wearing appropriate clothing, not aware that you are about to start cutting, or doing something that might endanger themselves or you, ask them to leave the area. Do not leave hot steel in places where people might touch it, or pick it up.
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Oxy Acetylene Equipment.

Note that the handpiece is fitted with a welding tip not a cutting tip.

Oxy-Acetylene Regulators
At the top of each cylinder is a main valve. Generally these days a plastic knob operates the valve. On older cylinders the valve may be operated either by a removable key, or a spanner. Opening the valve allows gas to flow into the regulator mounted directly on top of the valve.

Regulators control the flow of gas from the cylinders to the hand piece. They reduce the high pressures of the cylinders, to low working pressures, making the contents safe and manageable to use. Like the cylinders, the regulators are colour coded. The oxygen regulator has a black knob, and the acetylene regulator a maroon knob. The regulators are not interchangeable, and to prevent this, the threads used to connect the regulators to the cylinders are different. The oxygen cylinder and regulator have a right hand thread: the acetylene cylinder and regulator have a left hand thread. Depending upon the type of regulator, an adjustment knob is on the front or the top of the regulator. Turning this knob adjusts the flow of gas through the regulator. All regulators show two different pressures. When the main cylinder valve is turned on, one gauge of the regulator shows the cylinder pressure. The second gauge shows the working pressure, which is set by the operator when the adjusting knob on the regulator is turned. For the work we do, the oxygen and acetylene working pressure is determined by the size of the cutting tip used. We mainly use number 8 and 12 tips, which requires acetylene pressure to be 100Kpa, and the oxygen pressure to be 200Kpa. Note that for safety reasons acetylene pressure is never set higher than 100Kpa .
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The Oxy-Acetylene Cutting Torch Attachment. These units are used with a normal welding blowpipe. Separate heavy duty cutting and gouging units are available, and they attach directly to the hoses.
Cutting Tip. Available in different sizes to suit the cutting of different thicknesses of steel.

Oxygen control valve. Controls the flow of oxygen through the hand piece.

Oxygen Blast Lever. Once the metal has reached ignition temperate the oxygen blast lever is depressed and held down, beginning the cutting process.

Hand piece. The cutting attachment screws onto the hand piece.

Flashback arrestors. Situated between the hand piece and the hoses. They prevent flame from traveling back up the hoses to the regulators and gas bottles.

Control Valves. When using the cutting torch, the oxygen control valve is turned full on. The oxygen flow is controlled using the control valve situated above the hand piece.

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Setting up an oxy-acetylene plant.

Use the sequence shown below to set up the oxy-acetylene equipment for cutting, heating and welding. Secure the bottles. Bottles should be chained or strapped into place on trolleys before being moved. Bottles not on trolleys should be chained against a wall to prevent them from being knocked over. Bottles are heavy, and are best moved by tilting towards you, and rolling them on their bottom edge. Avoid attempting to pick them up and carrying them to the trolley. Take the trolley to them.

Clean the cylinder valves. Both cylinders come with plastic plugs in the threads to keep moisture and dirt out. Crack the oxygen cylinder, by briefly opening and shutting the valve, giving a short burst of high pressure gas. This blows the plastic plug out and removes any dirt or moisture present. Remove the plug in the acetylene valve by hand, and wipe the valve area with a lint free cloth. Connect the regulators. The oxygen regulator, (Blue or Black), has a right hand thread and the acetylene regulator, (Maroon), a left hand thread. Check the O ring seal on the bottom of the regulators is in good condition, and tighten them in place using the short spanner supplied by the manufacturer. They rely on the O ring to seal, so do not need to be excessively tight. Align the regulators so they face at 90 degrees to the valve handle.

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Connect the hoses to the regulators. Unscrew the regulator control knobs until they are free, by turning them in an anticlockwise direction. Check both hoses and fittings for damage, such as cracks or splits. Fit the hoses to the regulators, remembering that the acetylene fittings will be a left hand thread. Tighten firmly using a correct sized spanner. Flashback arrestors are located between the hoses and the regulators. Attach the hand piece. Check that both the oxygen and acetylene valves on the hand piece are turned fully clockwise to the off position. Attach and tighten the hoses to the hand piece. The acetylene fitting will be a left hand thread. Flashback arrestors are also fitted between the hoses and the hand piece.

Check for gas leaks. One regulator at a time. With the regulator control knob free and the hand piece valve off, open the cylinder valve slowly, and fully. Turn the regulator control knob clockwise, and set the pressure to 50kpa. Turn the cylinder valve off. If both the high pressure and working pressure gauges maintain their pressure, there are no leaks. The plant is ready for use. If there is a leak. Check that all connections are tight and the hoses are not damaged. If after that there is still a leak, the fittings need to be checked using soapy water. The leaking gas will cause the soapy water to bubble at the point where the leak is occurring. Under no circumstances attempt to find the leak using a flame! Over time the hoses will fatigue, and begin to crack. Eventually they will need to be replaced, as they will leak around the cracks.
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Oxy/Acetylene Plant, lighting up procedure.

Remember. Always light the acetylene using a flint lighter. Never use a cigarette lighter or a match. Check that the regulator adjusting knobs are released by turning them in a anti clockwise direction. (Figure 1).

Slowly open both cylinder valves by turning the handwheel in a anti clockwise direction. (Figure 2). Open the acetylene valve on the blowpipe a small amount by turning it in a anti clockwise direction. (Figure 3). Set the working pressure to 100kpa by turning the acetylene regulator adjusting knob in a clockwise direction. (Figure 4). Turn the acetylene blowpipe valve off by turning it in a clockwise direction. Fully open the oxygen valve on the blowpipe handpiece and then close it half a turn. Remember the oxygen flow when cutting is controlled using the oxygen valve on the cutting attachment. (Figure 5) Not the valve on the handpiece. Open the oxygen valve on the cutting attachment a small amount by turning it in a anti clockwise direction. Set the working pressure to 200kpa by turning the oxygen regulator adjusting knob in a clockwise direction. Turn the oxygen valve off by turning it in a clockwise direction. Note that the acetylene pressure will always be 100Kpa but that the oxygen pressure will change with the size of the tip used.

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Parts of the Oxy-Acetylene Flame.

There are three main types of oxy-acetylene flame. Neutral, carburizing and oxidizing. We will be using a neutral flame for cutting.

The diagram at right shows the three parts of the flame.

Neutral Flame. The neutral flame has two parts, the outer cone and a clear well defined inner cone. The flame does not add or subtract anything from the parent metal. A neutral flame is used for most welding jobs where the metals are melted and mixed together. All cutting is done with a neutral flame. Carburizing Flame. The carburizing flame has too much acetylene in the gas mixture. The flame can be identified by the feather that burns around the inner cone. If this flame is used for fusion welding the result is a hard brittle weld.

Oxidizing Flame. An oxidizing flame has too much oxygen in the gas mixture. This flame can be identified by a short inner cone and a whistling sound. If this flame is used for fusion welding the result is a brittle weld.

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Setting a neutral flame and beginning the cut.

Before lighting the cutting torch, take the time to clean the tip with tip cleaners. A dirty tip will adversely affect the quality of the cut. Clean all the pre heating orifices, and the central cutting orifice, with the appropriate sized tip cleaner. Have a small amount of oxygen running through the tip while it is being cleaned. This will help to remove any debris dislodged by the tip cleaner.

Turn on the acetylene blowpipe valve slightly, and light it with a flint lighter. Adjust the flame until it just begins to burn away from the tip, then back it off slightly. The flame will look like that in Figure 1. It will have a parallel section about 25mm long and then flare out.

Introduce the oxygen gradually until the acetylene feather disappears giving a flame like that in Figure 2. The blue cones are distinct, with rounded ends. Next, depress and hold down the oxygen blast lever, and add more oxygen, until the flame again looks like that in Figure 2. You now have a neutral flame suitable for cutting. Its important to stop adding oxygen as soon as the acetylene feather disappears. An oxidising flame can be recognized by the more pointy shape of the blue cones and by the hissing sound it makes.

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When the oxygen blast lever is depressed and held down, the flame should remain neutral. A jet of oxygen is passing down the centre of the flame and can be seen as a clear area in the middle of the flame with a bluish edge. The flame will look similar to that in figure 3. To begin the cut. Place the steel on the cutting table, ensuring that the slag from the cut will be contained within the table. Use a sharpened piece of engineers chalk to mark the line of the cut. Light the torch, and set a neutral flame. Wearing appropriate clothing, and with the oxy goggles covering your eyes, position the cutting tip half on and half off the steel to be cut. The blue cones of the flame should be 2mm, to 4mm above the work. Heat the steel until it is a dull red, slowly depress the cutting lever, hold it down, and begin moving the torch along the line to be cut. To maintain the cut. Once started, the cut is maintained by traveling at the correct speed. You will learn to recognize the correct speed with practice. A good quality cut is the result of a clean tip, correct size of tip, correct gas pressures, height of the tip above the work, and the speed of travel. The correct speed will give a steady shower of molten slag out the bottom of the cut, and leave a clean edge to the cut on the top surface. Go too fast and the cut will stop. Go too slowly, and the steel will melt rather than being cut, leaving a ragged slag coated cut, with a rounded, melted top surface. Using the roller guide attachment. The roller guide attachment allows the operator to concentrate on moving the torch down a chalk line without having to worry about maintaining the correct height above the workpiece. It will result in a better quality, and more accurate cut than one done freehand. Angle iron guided cut. A piece of 40mm angle iron, with a handle welded on makes a handy guide. The nut that holds the tip in place sits on top of the angle iron, and the side of the tip is kept firmly against the angle iron. With practice, a cut as good as one with the roller guide attachment can be made. Circle cutting attachment. There are several types of attachments available, that when used correctly will enable the operator to accurately cut circles to size.

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Hole piercing using the oxy/acetylene plant.

Use this technique when starting a cut away from the edge of the plate. If the plate is thicker than 12mm, it will speed the process up if you nick the surface of the plate with a cold chisel. Or, drill a small hole through the plate where the start of the cut is to be. Hold the nozzle upright to preheat the starting point.

As the metal approaches the ignition temperature, tilt the torch to about a 45 degree angle to the plate, and away from yourself. Gently introduce the blast of oxygen. The angle of the torch ensures the slag is blown away, and does not rebound up into the nozzle, blocking the tip.

With the oxygen blast still on, raise the torch to the vertical position to give complete penetration through the plate.

With the torch in the vertical position and the blue cones of the flame approximately 2mm to 4mm away from the plate begin cutting.

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The Thermal Cutting Process.

The flame cutting process used for cutting iron and steel depends upon a chemical reaction between iron and oxygen. When a piece of iron or steel is heated to a temperature of 815 degrees C, the material will burn, to form a lower melting point substance called iron oxide. The chemical reaction from burning generates a great deal of heat. This heat enables the cutting to continue. Once the metal begins to burn, the heat generated will lead to a spread of oxidization through the material. This important property of flame cutting allows you to cut and pierce thick steel, without overall heating of the metal. The ignition temperature is the temperature at which the chemical reaction begins. The ignition temperature for low carbon steel is 815 degrees C. This is well below its melting point of approximately 1450 degrees C. Note that higher carbon steels will have both a lower ignition temperature, and a lower melting point, than low carbon steel. The steps of the flame cutting action. 1. Use the flame to raise a small section of the metal to ignition temperature. 2. Release a high speed jet of oxygen on the heated section. 3. By controlling the direction of the blowpipe nozzle, and combining it with the oxidizing action, cut through the metal. The width of the cut through the steel is called the kerf. The cutting action is a function of the high speed jet of oxygen. The purpose of the flame is to heat the metal to its ignition temperature, so that the cutting can begin. In theory, once the cutting begins, the flame shouldnt be necessary. However, heat is lost from the work through conduction, so its necessary to keep the pre-heat flame going while you work. The most common gas combinations used for preheat are oxy-acetylene and oxy-LPG.

The cutting process

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Flame cutting limitations. Because flame cutting depends upon a chemical reaction, (oxidization), between heated iron and oxygen, it can only be used on metals which are basically iron. Non ferrous metals, such as copper, brass, aluminium etc, cannot be flamecut. For a metal to be readily flame cut it needs: An ignition temperature below its melting point, so that the metal can be cut without being melted by the flame. The oxide, or slag, that forms from the cutting action, must have a lower melting point than the metal being cut. Cutting Torches. There are two types of manual flame cutting torches. Dedicated cutting torches that are heavy duty cutting and gouging units. Cutting attachments that are used with a normal welding blowpipe. (Our oxy sets are fitted with these units). They are cheaper, and more versatile than the dedicated cutting units, but are not as robust, and do not have the thickness cutting capacity of the dedicated units.

Above. Heavy duty unit.

Cutting attachment for welding torch.

Cutting Nozzles. Cutting nozzles are designed for cutting different thicknesses of steel. Each nozzle is stamped to indicate the bore size, type of fuel gas, and method of attachment. The first part of the number gives the form of nozzle connection. The 30 series nozzles are screw in type, with a threaded inlet connection. The 40 series nozzles are the taper seat type. The second part of the number indicates the fuel gas the nozzle is designed to use. If the type number ends in a 1 the nozzle is used with acetylene. If it ends in a 4 it is used with LPG. Gas number identification. 1 acetylene. 2 low pressure acetylene. 3 coal gas. 4 LP gas. 5 hydrogen. Nozzle Size. The size number tells you the diameter of the main bore, and is stamped underneath the type number. The nozzle size is a tenth of given number in millimetres. For example, a number 12 nozzle, has a bore size of 1.2mm, a number 8 nozzle, a bore size of 0.8mm. Typical nozzle sizes are 6, 8, 12, 15 and 20.

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Cut Quality. The chart below will assist you in identifying flame cutting problems that may occur as you practice your cutting technique. Remember that cut quality is affected by the following factors. Metal Composition. Surface cleanliness, - free from paint, oil, and grease. Gas pressures. Size of the preheat flame. Cutting speed. Distance of the nozzle from the job.

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Flame Cutting Reference Chart. Use the chart below to determine the correct gas pressures to use for a given nozzle size, and to determine which nozzle to use for a given plate thickness.

Machine Cutting. Flame cutting machines are an essential piece of machinery in engineering workshops which make machine parts, or structural steel components. These machines have great advantages over manual cutting, especially for accurately cutting thick sections, or for cutting multiple items, as they hold the cutting tip rigidly at the correct distance from the work, with an even cutting speed.

The straight line cutting machine, above left, runs along a track that is attached to the workpiece. These machines will make square and angled cuts. The profile cutting machine, above right, will follow a template, or get information downloaded from a computer, and cut multiples of the desired shape from plate.

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Thermal Cutting Review Questions.

(1). The colour of the oxygen cylinder is ______________________________ The colour of the acetylene cylinder is ____________________________ (2). A correctly adjusted oxy-acetylene flame has a temperature of approximately ________________ degrees Celsius. (3). When lighting the blowpipe the ______________________ valve is turned on first. (4). To open the blowpipe valves turn in a ___________________ direction. (5). When extinguishing the oxy-acetylene flame first turn off the _________________ valve and then turn of the ________________ valve. (6). Explain how the cutting torch blowpipe valves are adjusted to produce a neutral flame.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(7). An oxidizing flame contains an excess of _________________________ (8). A carburising flame contains an excess of _________________________ (9). Explain 6 safety rules that must be followed when using oxy-acetylene equipment.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
(10). The flame cutting process used for cutting steel depends upon a

___________________ reaction between heated iron and oxygen.

(11). The ignition temperature of low carbon steel is _______ degrees Celsius. (12). The melting point of low carbon steel is _______ degrees Celsius. (13). Brass and aluminum can/cannot be cut using the flame cutting process. Circle the correct answer. (14). Cutting nozzles come in different types. Explain what is meant by a type 41 nozzle with a bore number of 12.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(15). State the two steps for flame cutting that follow the one given below. The flame is used to raise a small section of metal to ignition temperature.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(16). List 4 factors, which affect the quality of the oxy/acetylene cut.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(17). The cutting nozzle size we have been using is a number ______ with acetylene pressure set at ________ and oxygen pressure set to ______.

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18). In the space below sketch, label and describe the important features of: A neutral flame.

A carburising flame.

An oxidizing flame.

(19). Explain the difference between the oxygen and acetylene regulators.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(20). Regulators show both high pressure and working pressure. Explain the difference between the two.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(21). Explain how you could tell if either oxygen or acetylene was leaking from the oxy/acetylene set.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

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(22). When piercing a hole in plate why should the torch be tilted at an angle to the plate, and away from you, prior to introducing the blast of oxygen?

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
(23). Explain two methods that could be used to speed up the preheating process when piercing a hole in thick plate.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(24). Why is a flint lighter the safest method to use when lighting the torch? Why should a cigarette lighter never be used?

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

(25). How should cylinders be stored when not in use?

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(26). Full cylinders come from the gas supplier with plastic plugs in them. What are the plugs designed to do?

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
(27). Our oxy/acetylene sets are fitted with flash back arrestors. What are the flashback arrestors designed to prevent?

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
(28). When setting up the cutting attachment for use, why should the oxygen valve on the handpiece be turned on fully?

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
(29). Acetylene is not the only fuel gas used. Name the other popular fuel gas, and suggest why it is widely used by industry.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________(

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30). Name the parts of the cutting attachment shown in the drawing below.

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Assessment Task. The drawing below shows the practical section of the assessment task that you will complete after practicing and developing your thermal cutting skills. Your assessment task will also contain a theory component drawn from the information in this booklet.

Number 1. Freehand square cut. Number 2. Angle guided square cut. Number 3. Roller guided square cut. Number 4. 45 degree angle guided bevel cut. Number 5. Guided circle flamecut hole 75mm in diameter. Number 6. 25mm free hand flame cut hole.

Material: 12mm Low Carbon Steel

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Camden Haven High School. Thermal Cutting Exercise. Do Not Scale. Moyses 2006