Study of the behaviour of diamond saw-blades in stone processing

Abstract The conditions of the diamond on the working surface of the tools in sawing Indian red granite using diamond saw-blades have been studied in this paper, and the effects of the types and the sizes of the diamond on the sawing performance of the saw-blades have been also investigated. SEM and toolmaker's microscope analyses of the diamond blades after sawing indicate that the conditions of the worn particles can be classified as follows: whole (without significant wear), polished (flat), micro-fractured, macro-fractured, and pull-out. Experimental results show that sawblades containing higher toughness grits result in a better blade performance, lower sawing forces, and a greater proportion of whole and pull-out grits occurring on the worn surface. When saw-blades containing smaller size grits of the same concentration are used, the blade performance is better, but the sawing forces are relatively larger, and a greater proportion of particle are pulled-out with a small number of polished grits appearing on the working segment surface.