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Prototype motos laminates seem to be laser , EDM , or chemical etched Silicon is added to the steel to lower electrical conductivity ( about 3 percent I think ) also the steel has a nonconductive coating on it ( organic and inorganic coatings are used .My first choice would be Oxy-fule , second plasma , and tied for last place EDM or chemical etch.
Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated . Sincerely Robert
P.S. I would also like to hear any out of the box ideas .
Plasma needs good electrical conductivity since the process is an arc generated at the point of cutting. The silicon is probably added for altering the magnetic characteristics (to prevent magnetic saturation) but the effect would be to lower the conductivity and that would cause problems in plasma cutting. It would depend on the thickness or material and being able to change the cut current to match the nedia and the distance from the workclamp to the actual cut.. Plasma is a pretty non-precision cutting process to begin with and gets worse if the media changes during a cut. OXy fuel has limitations as well. It won't cut non-Ferris metals but rather just melts them in ugly clumps. Waterjet works to cut just about anything from cakes to steel depending on what is added as an abrasive and it is pretty precise and it leaves no slag like plasma can. Only problem is that AWJ are expensive, take lots of power and cut slower than some other types. You have to figure out what to do with the contaminated sand/water and the consumables are pricey/
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3% Si steel it a grade common in transformers, it doesn't stand motor use well, lower Si steels are used to stand things like creep, it cuts ok with plasma, electrically it's the same as a low carbon steel, the Silicon as mentioned is used to control the magnetic saturation, hysteresis and so on, it allows the steel to switch faster without loosing to eddy currents and heating, makes a more efficient transformer, as it's already rolled the silicon won't recrystallise in the HAZ much.
I have cut loads of samples with a torch without difficulty.
Some big transformers are made by that method, small ones tend to be punched as silicon steel is brittle when cold so punches well
Mark