Cutting of 316L stainless steel by plasma arc method and improvement of cutting quality

In this study, the effects of cutting parameters such as current, voltage, and cutting speed on the cutting quality of 316L stainless steel using the plasma arc method were thoroughly investigated. Cutting quality was evaluated based on criteria such as surface roughness, kerf widths (top and bottom), kerf angle, heat-affected zone, and material removal rate. The criterion weights were determined using the SWARA method and integrated with CoCoSo, MABAC, and GRA multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to form hybrid approaches, which were compared to improve cutting quality. According to the experimental results, as current, voltage, and cutting speed increased, surface quality deteriorated. Higher cutting speeds and lower current and arc voltage led to reductions in kerf width and the heat-affected zone. The lowest kerf angle was achieved at the highest cutting speed and current, with the lowest voltage. The highest material removal rate was obtained at the maximum levels of cutting parameters. All three hybrid methods (i.e., SWARA-CoCoSo, SWARA-MABAC, and SWARA-GRA) identified the third experiment (130 A current, 141 V voltage, and 1900 mm/min cutting speed) as the optimal condition. Finally, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis showed over 95% agreement among the ranking results of the three hybrid MCDM approaches.