Heavy fabrication means continuous and large-scale production of large or heavy sections. Components for heavy machinery and yellow goods like for agriculture, road construction or mining are usually made of particularly robust medium or thick and wear-resistant plates of both mild- and low-alloy metal. Therefore, powerful and precise cutting solutions that realize a maximum uptime and a repeatable cut quality are needed. For lightweight constructions like mobile cranes, it is important to find cutting solutions suitable for special materials with high yield strength. With regard to the needed high volumes, the energy consumption and the cost for consumables are important factors, too. 

Cutting thick-walled plates in series

To cut thick plates of more than 25 mm, plasma cutting is often a suitable solution. It is used in single part and small batch production as well as in the line production of assemblies or parts like superstructures and buckets. THERMACUT^® powerful plasma cutting systems are suitable for all fields of heavy fabrication and can be used for manual and mechanized cutting applications as well. For thicker plates and non-alloy or low-alloy steel, THERMACUT^® oxy-fuel cutting is the appropriate process. With this process, parts up to 300 mm thickness can be cut economically. Oxy-fuel torches also can be combined with CNC-cutting systems and used for mechanized cutting.