Numerical modelling of circular sawing system using discrete element method

A new method of modelling circular sawblade machines is suggested in this paper. Experimental studies and numerical modelling studies were performed on two real marbles, Afyon Violet Marble (AVM) and Afyon White Marble (AWM), and on a limestone, Sivrihisar Beige Limestone (SBL). Experimental studies were carried out using a specially designed, fully automatic circular sawblade stone cutting machine and numerical modelling studies were performed with a commercially available software called PFC3D. A discrete element model for the sawing process was developed and various numerical models were performed for different peripheral speeds and advance rates while at the same time the actual cutting operations were being carried out in the laboratory. At the end of the study, the numerical modelling results are found to be quite compatible with the actual results. Consequently, it is shown that numerical modelling can effectively be used for the simulation of the natural stone sawing process, and this study paves the way for explaining the sawing mechanism dynamically. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.