Sawing of Granite with Side-Slotted Diamond Segments

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to examine the feasibility of circular sawing of granite with a newly shaped diamond saw blade. Three slots were formed on each side of each segment of the saw blade. Side-slotted segments and traditional segments were compared under same operating parameters. Measurements were made of the horizontal and vertical force components and the consumed power in order to obtain the tangential and normal force components. The surfaces of worn blade segments were examined by a scanning electron microscope. The consumed powers, normal and tangential force components for the side-slotted segments were found to be lower than those of the traditional segments. The position of resultant forces for the side-slotted segments is a little further away from the bottom of the cutting zone than the traditional segments. SEM observations indicated that the wear of the side-slotted segments was similar to sawing with traditional segments.