Industrial Minerals - An Investigation of Hard-Metal Inserts for Cutting Slate

Hard-metal inserts have received considerable attention in the mining industry recently for a variety of excavating and penetrating purposes. Their use in percussive drilling and in coal cutting machines is well known, but attempts to utilize them in cutting materials such as dimension stone have been discouraging because of excessive tool wear and failure. Particular attention is given to those properties of hard-metal inserts that affect their resistance to wear. A consideration of the actual wear mechanism shows the importance of correct mounting of the inserts and of the selection of suitably powered driving motor so as to achieve minimum tool wear and maximum tool life. Comparisons are made between the performances of types of hard-metal inserts, relating their inherent properties with results obtained in laboratory tests. As part of a broad program to improve the quarrying and processing of industrial minerals, The Pennsylvania State University has been investigating the machinability of slate under laboratory and field conditions. It should be emphasized that the results of the research presented in this paper are also applicable to other natural structural materials, and particularly to the more workable ones such as limestone and sandstone. Improvements which accrue in cutting and sawing should prove of benefit to all the dimension stone industry. Further, it may be pointed out that the results reported here are applicable to rotary drilling (with drag bits) as well as to cutting and sawing of rock. INVESTIGATIONS IN RELATED FIELDS The investigation was initiated with an extensive survey of available literature related to metal cutting and to rotary drilling. The following similar features between metal cutting and slate cutting became evident: 1) Hard-metal inserts are widely used as a cutting tool in both cases. 2) The forces acting on the tool may be resolved into normal and tangential components. 3) Rate of penetration and tool wear are important criteria in each case. On the other hand, important differences also exist: 1) Most metals, exhibit plastic behavior, while slate (and most rock) is a brittle material under normal conditions. 2) In metal cutting the component of force acting parallel to the surface of the workpiece is considerably greater than the force holding the tool against the workpiece. 111 slate cutting, this situation is reversed. Similarities between drag-bit rotary drilling and slate cutting are as follows: 1) In both casts, a tool, usually of the hard-metal insert type, is used to penetrate a brittle material. 2) The drilling forces and related variables, such as rotation speed, are similar. 3) Chip formation in each case is essentially the same. 4) The shape of the tool is similar in rotary drilling and slate cutting. Important differences are also apparent: 1) The objective of drilling is to produce a directed hole, while in cutting it is to form a kerf. In core drilling, however, a kerf is also produced. 2) The horizonta1 component of force in rotary drilling decreases from the center to the outside of the tool, whereas in slate cutting the component is almost uniformly distributed across the width of the tool. 3) The power absorbed in the drill rod is greater in rotary drilling. 4) The clogging action of chips, if excessive power is applied to the tool and if flushing is insufficient, is more serious in rotary drilling. Because of the striking similarities between metal cutting and slate cutting, and between rotary drilling and slate cutting, it was considered that the findings of investigators in those fields would serve as a guide for experimental studies of slate cutting. The following is thus devoted to a discussion of those aspects of metal cutting and rotary drilling pertinent to the present investigations.