• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2016

The pick cutter, which directly contacts and crushes the rock, is the expendable part of a roadheader. The arrangement and angle of attachment of the pick cutter are important factors that determine excavator performance. It is necessary to numerically calculate the contact between the pick cutter and rock. The rock is defined as a set of particles using the discrete element method. The parallel bond model is used to define the bonds between particles. The properties of granite that are measured by the uniaxial compressive test are applied to the numerical rock model. The pick cutter is defined by the polygon elements. The linear cutting simulation is considered to simulate the contact between the pick cutter and rock. The results of the simulation show the rock breaking due to contact with the pick cutter.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.373-379
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• 2010

This study was carried out to develop a belt pick-up type one-row soybean cutter, using physical properties and production conditions of soybeans. The prototype soybean cutter consisted of 4 parts: cutting part, conveying part, collecting part, and travelling part. The prototype soybean cutter was designed to cut soybeans planted with a row spacing of 600 mm, and at a height of 30 mm from the bed bottom using a disk saw. Through various trials with different peripheral velocities of the disk saw and forward speed of the cutter, determined ranges of the peripheral velocity of the disk saw cutting soybeans stems were greater than 18.3 m/s. Spacing between pick-up belts (clearance) was in a range of 60~90 mm so that soybeans could be picked at heights greater than 25 cm, and the size and shape of the pick-up belt were determined the conventional manual harvesting method. The optimal ratio between the forward speed of cutter and the peripheral speed of pick-up belts were from 1 to 1.2 by theoretical analysis. the pick-up belts had a $35^{\circ}$ of tilted angle and $90^{\circ}$ of twisted angle to pick up soybeans safely from the plant input to the lower end of the belts and convey soybeans to the upper end of belts nearby a container. The soybeans at the rear container were dropped down on the soybean row with an interval. The effective field capacity of the prototype soybean cutter was 0.136 ha/h, reducing the working hour by 92% when compared with the manual cutting.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.161-182
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• 2018

We carried out a series of linear cutting machine tests to assess the cutting performance of a pick cutter in sedimentary rock. The specimens were Linyi sandstone from China and Concrete (rock-like material, conglomerate). Using the small scaled LCM system, we estimated the cutter force and specific energy under different cutting conditions. The cutter forces (cutting and normal) increased with penetration depth and cutter spacing in two rock types, and it was affected by the strength of specimens. On the other hand, the ratio of the peak cutter force to the mean cutter force was influenced by cutting characteristic and composition of rock rather than rock strength. The cutting coefficient was affected by the friction characteristic between rock and pick cutter rather than the cutting conditions. Therefore, the optimal cutting angle can be determined by considering of cutting coefficient and resultant force of pick cutter. The optimum cutting condition was determined from the relationship between the specific energy and cutting condition. For two specimens, the optimum s/p ratio was found to be two to four, and the specific energy decreased with the penetration depth. The result from this study can be used as background database to understand the cutting mechanism of a pick cutter, also it can be used to design for the mechanical excavator.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.496-504
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• 2015

Roadheader that excavates ground using pick cutters installed on the cutting head is one of the partial-face machines. A conical cutter among pick cutters is excavation tool decreasing the loss of cutter using tungsten carbide insert at the tip of the cutter and it has been widely used in the roadheaders. In this study, durability performance for three kinds of conical cutters was evaluated in copper mines composed of Manto and conglomerate. After field test, the visual inspection as well as the weight loss measurement of pick cutters was carried out to investigate the damage of pick cutters. In addition, CT scan and SEM were performed to check whether or not crack and apertures in pick cutters. As results, the conical cutter with hardfacing was evaluated as having the best durability performance and it was unable to find cracks in all cutters investigated.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.141-159
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• 2017

A pick cutter is a rock-cutting tool used in partial-face excavation machines such as roadheaders, and its quality is a key element influencing the excavation performance and efficiency of such machines. In this study, pick cutters with hardfacing deposits applied to a tungsten carbide insert were made with aim of increasing their durability and wear resistance. They were field-tested by being installed in a roadheader and compared with conventional pick cutters under the same excavation conditions for 24 hours. The hardfaced pick cutters showed much smaller weight loss after excavation, and therefore better excavation performance, than the conventional pick cutters. In particular, the damage to and detachment (loss) of tungsten carbide inserts was minimal in the hardfaced pick cutters. A detailed inspection using scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and three-dimensional X-ray computed tomography scanning revealed no macro- or micro-cracks in the pick cutters. The reason for the absence of cracks may be that the heads of pick cutters are mechanically worn after the tungsten carbide inserts have been worn and damaged. However, scanning revealed the presence of voids between tungsten carbide inserts and pick cutter heads. This discovery of voids indicates the need to improve production processes in order to guarantee a higher quality of pick cutters.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.414-424
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• 2023

In this study, a total of 326 data on a variety of geometric parameters of pick cutters and the corresponding cuttable rock conditions were collected and built as a database. Statistical analysis of the database showed that there is a significant positive correlation between the parameters that define the geometry of a pick cutter, especially between the parameters related to the length of a pick cutter and the geometry of a tungsten carbide insert. The diameter of a pick cutter shaft was also strongly correlated with the geometry of the inserts. On the other hand, it was difficult to find a clear correlation between the parameters for the rock conditions defined by the four conditions and the geometric parameters of pick cutters, which may be due to the uncertainty of the rock mass and the fact that the application of a pick cutter is presented as a range rather than a numerical single value. However, the mean values of geometric parameters of pick cutters tend to increase as a rock mass becomes harder. However, the pick length parameters are found to decrease as a rock mass becomes harder, which may be a way to reduce the moments that can occur when using long pick cutters in a hard rock condition.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.519-533
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• 2023

In this study, the linear cutting tests of pick cutters were carried out on a granitic rock with the average compressive strength over 100 MPa. From the tests, the correlation between the cutter acting force and the temperature measured by infrared thermal imaging camera during rock cutting was analyzed. In every experimental condition, the maximum temperature was measured at the rock surface where the chipping occurred, and the temperature generated in the rock was closely correlated with the cutter acting force. On the other hand, the temperature of a pick cutter increased up to only 36℃ above the ambient temperature, and the correlation with the cutter force was not obvious. This can be attributed to the short cutting distance under laboratory conditions and the high thermal conductivity of the tungsten carbide inserts. However, the relatively high temperature of the tungsten carbide inserts was found to be maintained. Therefore, it is recommended that a reinforcement between the insert and the head of a pick cutter or the quality improvement of silvering brazing in the production of a cutter is necessary to maintain the high cutting performance of a pick cutter.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2019

In this study, the durability of conical pick cutter was compared and analyzed by pre- and post-test visual inspection, measurement of weight loss and wear volume through field test on two types of conical pick cutters applied to rotary drum cutter. In the visual inspection, it was found that only 9 inserts were lost in the slim type conical pick cutter. This result show that the thickness of the head cover surrounding a insert was important to maintain the insert during excavation. The weight loss and wear volume of the heavy type conical pick cutter were less than half that of the slim type. From these results, it can be confirmed that heavy type is more useful than slim type in hard rock. It should be noted that, when determining the wear loss of the conical pick cutter, the mutual comparison of the weight measurement and the wear volume measurement results may be different due to the unit weight of the material and the spalling caused by excavation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.811-822
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• 2018

Chip size distribution can be used to evaluate the cutting efficiency and to characterize the cutting behavior of rock during cutting and fragmentation process. In this study, a series of linear cutting tests was performed to investigate the effect of cutting conditions (specifically cut spacing and penetration depth) on the production and size distribution of rock chips. Linyi sandstone from China was used in the linear cutting tests. After each run of linear cutting machine test, the rock chips were collected and their size distribution was analyzed using a sieving test and image processing. Image processing can rapidly and cost-effectively provide useful information of size distribution. Rosin-Rammer distribution pamameters, the coarseness index and the coefficients of uniformity and curvature were determined by image processing for different cutting conditions. The size of the rock chips was greatest at the optimum cut spacing, and the size distribution parameters were highly correlated with cutter forces and specific energy.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.359-368
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• 2022

Undercutting using an actuated disc cutter (ADC) involves more complex cutting mechanism than traditional rock cutting does, requiring the application of various new cutting parameters, such as eccentricity, cutter inclination angle, and axis rotational speed. This study presents cutting-edge laboratory-scale testing equipment that allows performing ADC tests. ADC tests were carried out on a concrete block with a specified strength of 20 MPa, using a variety of cutting settings that included penetration depth (p), eccentricity (e), and linear velocity (v). ADC, unlike pick and disc cutting, has a non-linear cutting path with a dynamic cutting direction, requiring the development of a new method for predicting cutting force and specific energy. The influence of cutting parameters to the cutter forces were discussed. The ratio of eccentricity to the penetration depth (e/p) was proposed to evaluate the optimal cutting condition. Specific energy varies with e/p ratio, and exhibits optimum values in particular cases. In general, actuated undercutting may potentially give a more efficient cutting than conventional pick and disc cutting by demonstrating reasonably lower specific energy in a comparable cutting environment.