Thermal cutting and waterjet cutting

Oxycutting, plasma cutting and laser cutting are based on the point fusion of the material to be cut (over its entire thickness) and the displacement of the fusion front along a trajectory that defines the shape of the cut.

Waterjet cutting is not based on fusion and cannot be described as thermal cutting, as we shall see, but it is frequently associated with these processes by the fact that it is also based on the displacement of an impact point and is therefore implemented by fairly similar means and on a number of similar applications.

Thermal cutting and waterjet cutting are distinguished from so-called "mechanical" processes by the absence of contact and part/tool reaction. Mechanical" processes are generally based on the shearing of material (press punching, shear cutting) or the tearing off of material (grinding wheel or tool cutting).

Spark cutting (under water, with a graphite electrode or a disk as electrode), arc gouging (with graphite electrode and air blowing), the use of thermal lances (steel tube filled with aluminum and/or aluminum wires burning in a stream of oxygen) are also thermal cutting techniques, but we won't describe them here due to their very specific applications.

For further, more detailed information, please refer to Lucien Vignardet's books on cutting and preparing components for welding, published by Publications de la Soudure Autogène.