Surface Finishing by Atmospheric Pressure Micro Plasma Beam Irradiation

A metal surface finishing method by micro plasma beam irradiation was examined and presented in this study. Gray cast iron was used as the experimental material to examine the finishing effect by the micro plasma beam. This experimental setup consists of a compressed air system, a plasma torch, and a power supply. The compressed gas was ignited by high voltage direct current pulsed gas discharge and facilitated the generation of plasma, as well as a plasma beam with a maximum diameter of 0.6 mm was used for finishing the metal surface instantly. The experimental results show that it was possible to remove the peak points which exist on the metal surface. It was showed clearly that after the irradiation by the micro plasma beam, the initial rusty and rough surface becomes a clean and smooth surface under a proper finishing condition.