Sheetcam Hot Crack Hot! Jun 2026

Combined with a lead-out, it prevents the torch from pausing at the intersection point, which can over-heat the zone and worsen crater cracking. 3. Torch Off Delay and End Delays

A refers to a crack that appears in a workpiece immediately after cutting, usually near the lead-in, a sharp corner, or the point where the torch finishes the cut. These are not mechanical shear cracks; they are thermal stress fractures . sheetcam hot crack

While SheetCam itself does not physically melt metal or cause thermal fracturing, the CAD/CAM settings you configure within SheetCam directly dictate the torch path, dwell times, and gas transitions. If these settings are misconfigured, they create the exact thermal and mechanical conditions required for hot cracking to occur. Combined with a lead-out, it prevents the torch

: Reducing the feed rate (e.g., to 50%–70%) as the torch approaches a tight corner (less than 45°) helps achieve smoother results and prevents excessive heat buildup that can lead to cracking. These are not mechanical shear cracks; they are

If the torch stays at this final point for even a fraction of a second while the plasma arc is extinguishing, the intense residual heat melts away the surrounding metal. Because the scrap skeleton or the part itself has already been separated, the heat has nowhere to dissipate, resulting in a blown-out, melted crater. The Root Causes of Hot Cracks

Set the delay to the absolute minimum time required to penetrate the sheet. For thin materials, this may be 0 to 0.2 seconds.

To prevent defects like hot cracking or "weld crater" failures, operators use SheetCam’s to control the torch's behavior at critical points where heat accumulates: