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Electrothermal Cutting Process

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Advanced Noncontact Cutting and Joining Technologies

Part of the book series: Mechanical Engineering Series ((MES))

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Abstract

Electrothermal cutting processes employ a combination of electrical energy and heat to achieve material removal process. Many materials will burn when subjected to heat. By bringing materials into melting and vaporisation state, material cutting can be achieved. Electrothermal machining is an advanced machining process which is contact-less and hence does not require the physical contact of the tool and the workpiece making cutting forces negligible. There are different types of electrothermal machining processes such as electrical discharged machining, electron beam machining and laser beam machining, which are explained in this chapter. This advanced machining process however uses thermal energy to achieve the desired cutting process but does not create heat damage to the material when compared to the similar conventional cutting processes. The principles of operation of each of these processes are explained in this chapter with their advantages, limitations and areas of application. Some research works in this field are also presented.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the University of Johannesburg research council (URC) and University of Ilorin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Rasheedat Modupe Mahamood & Esther Titilayo Akinlabi

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

    Rasheedat Modupe Mahamood

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  1. Rasheedat Modupe Mahamood
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Mahamood, R.M., Akinlabi, E.T. (2018). Electrothermal Cutting Process. In: Advanced Noncontact Cutting and Joining Technologies. Mechanical Engineering Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75118-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75118-4_4

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