Effects of sawing parameters on natural stone processing performance

Circular sawing is a very flexible method used in natural stone processing. This method can be used in all sawing stages, such as tile production, cutting the slabs to size, shaping of cubic pieces, etc. Due to this feature, it is the preferred tool for stone processing. Thus, the investigation of sawing parameters affected on circular sawing performance is necessary. In this study, the effects of some sawing parameters (diamond concentration in segment, sawing depth, and saw blade diameter) on sawing performance (unit wear and unit energy) were investigated through the use of computer-assisted automatic circular sawing machine. Real marble samples, commercially named Afyon Violet, were used in the experiments. It was determined graphically that diamond concentration in segment, sawing depth, and saw blade diameter were very effective on unit wear and unit energy. The statistical analyses were also conducted to determine the effects of sawing parameters on unit wear and unit energy. Consequently, stone processors must take into consideration these sawing parameters in order to achieve more economical production.