Force ratio in the circular sawing of granites with a diamond segmented blade

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of the force ratio in the circular sawing of several kinds of typical granite with a diamond segmented saw blade over a very wide range of sawing conditions. Measurements were made of the horizontal and vertical force components and the consumed power in order to obtain the tangential and the normal force components. For studying the influence of sawing parameters, experiments were especially designed and conducted in an attempt to keep a constant working state of the segment surface. An additional experiment was also carried out to examine the variation of the force ratio while the working surface of the segments progressively changed. Compared to workpiece velocity, the depth of cut was found to rank first in governing the two force components. In spite of the big difference in sawing difficulty, the force components and their ratios for different granites did not differ as much as was expected. The force ratio increased linearly with increasing wheel speed, whereas the normal force decreased steeply and the tangential force was nearly constant. In a long-time sawing process where the saw blade was not redressed from beginning to end, both the tangential and normal force components increased with the gradual wear of the saw blade while their ratio decreased. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.