A metallurgical study of the wear of band-saw blades

Abstract The wear of bimetal band-saw blade teeth during the sawing of three important work materials (plain carbon steel, quenched and tempered steel and austenitic stainless steel) was investigated. In band-sawing the blade life is determined by either a loss in cutting ability of the teeth or a lateral displacement of the blade. Both of these criteria are related to the gradual development of flank wear on the teeth. Five flank wear mechanisms were identified: edge chipping, edge deformation, abrasion, mild adhesive wear and severe adhesive wear. The relative importance of these mechanisms was found to be strongly influenced by the work material properties, in particular with respect to the chip formation characteristics. For each work material a detailed description of the gradual flank wear is given and related to the performance of the blade.