Abstract
Today, wire sawing of natural stone is undergoing widespread commercialization. In addition to rock extraction and processing with single wires, composed of a multitude of diamond-impregnated beads mounted onto a steel rope, this technology is increasingly used for slabbing of granite blocks on multi-wire machines. Evolving sophistication of stone sawing equipment dictates novel tool designs and formulations. For technologists specifying bead compositions, it is a common habit to instinctively follow the circular saw segment design guidelines. A poor tool performance is often an undesirable consequence of such an approach. To meet that challenge, theoretical models of sawing granite by means of a diamond wire saw and a diamond circular saw have been presented and contrasted with respect to diamond loading conditions. The analytical treatments are supported by scarcely available industrial quantitative assessments and qualitative observations. The evaluation of cutting forces and the identification of system characteristics affecting wire vibration and wire rotation are instrumental in both machine design and tool formulation. For practitioners working with granite, the provided knowledge is also essential to diagnose and prevent problems inherent in wire sawing, such as the high incidence of wire breakage, unsatisfactory tool life and cutting capability and eccentric bead wear.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The first diamond wires were invented in England in the 1950s
Further machine and wire developments were needed for igneous rock sawing, and it was not until the past 30 years or so that diamond wire was commonly accepted for squaring granite blocks on stationary single-wire machines
Multi-diamond wire (MDW) machines are the newest type of equipment which is increasingly used for slabbing granite blocks, replacing the traditional steel shot frame saws
Summary
The first diamond wires were invented in England in the 1950s. Initially, they consisted of electroplated diamond beads threaded onto a multi-strand steel rope. The obvious advantage of slower down-feed rates is enhanced wire rotation [5], whereas smaller bead diameter allows reduced stress on the steel rope prolonging its fatigue life. An obvious consequence of using beads 7.3 mm in diameter, or smaller, is restricted thickness of the diamond-impregnated layer, Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2021) 116:2591–2597 which adversely affects the wire life. This trend is more pronounced as the rock becomes more difficult to cut [2]. While sawing relatively long blocks at low cutting rates, the forces/pressures acting on diamond beads are much lower compared to circular sawing of granite This fact is usually neglected, and circular saw segment formulations, discussed in detail in Ref. The main objective of the present study is to provide a more fundamental understanding of the mechanics of sawing hard rock with a diamond wire in order to make and use the tooling correct, avoiding high cost of trial-and-errorbased experiments
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