Cutting and Wear Resistance of Large-Diameter D30-R10 Structure Conical Polycrystalline Diamond Compact (PDC) Cutters Under Rotary Excavation Conditions

In the field of engineering rotary excavation, challenges persist when dealing with hard rock, ultra-hard rock, and variable, complex rock formations. These challenges include increased difficulty in rotary excavation, frequent failure of conical PDC cutters, reduced service life, and low rock-breaking efficiency. To improve the efficiency of rotary excavation and to find suitable parameters for rotary excavation, it is essential to enhance the service life of conical PDC cutters. In this paper, ABAQUS cutting simulations and experimental verification are used to analyze the effects of different depths of cut (DOC) and cutting angles on the average cutting resistance, specific cutting energy (SCE), rock stress distribution, and wear loss per unit area of the conical PDC cutters of the D30-R10 structure during the cutting process. The results show that the average cutting resistance increases with both depths of cut (DOC) and cutting angles, reaching a maximum value of 4 949.5 N at a depth of cut (DOC) of 3 mm and a cutting angle of 47 degrees; the cutting specific energy increases with the increase of depths of cut (DOC) but shows a tendency to increase first and then decrease with the increase of cutting angles. In the process of rock-breaking, the location of the maximum stress on the rock is always found on both sides of the corresponding position of the conical cutters cutting inlet, and the distribution of rock stress resembles the water ripple-like diffusion pattern. Volcanic rock with a flat and smooth surface and no obvious cracks was selected for the cutting experiments. The cutting angle was 43 degrees, the cutting speed was 5 mm/s, and three passes were cut at different depths of cut (DOC). The experimental results show that the depth of cut (DOC) is 1.5 mm, the smallest wear loss per unit area is 0.305 4 mg/cm2, which significantly improves the service life of the conical cutters. The above research provides theoretical support for the application of large-diameter conical PDC cutters in cutting and rock-breaking and promotes the popularization and application of large-diameter conical PDC cutters in the field of engineering rotary excavation.