One of the most important factors affecting the production rates in quarry mining is the performance of chain saw and diamond wire saw cutting machines. In this study, Shore hardness, Schmidt hammer and uniaxial compressive strength values are used to predict the field performance of chain saw machines. Natural stone quarries are visited in Turkey in order to measure the field performance of chain saw machines. Different natural stone samples are obtained from different quarries for defining the physical and mechanical properties and Schmidt hammer and Shore scleroscope hardness values. The single parameter statistical relationships between Schmidt hammer hardness, Shore scleroscope hardness, mechanical properties and the field performance of chain saw machines are analyzed. Investigations indicate that there are strong relationships between field performance of chain saw machines and Schmidt hammer values, Shore hardness values, mechanical properties of natural stones.
The natural stone industry has unique competitive characteristics that differentiate it from any other industries in terms of technology use and operational characteristics. The chain saw machines, which are the advanced machinery, are able to perform vertical and horizontal cuts for quarrying natural stone mine. These machines are able to cut on natural stones using tools with screw clamp, and work with or without water.
Few studies have been published in the literature related to predicting the performance of chain saw machines. The kinematics of continuous belt type machines (coal cutters, trenchers and chain saw machines) were investigated by Mellor (1976) in terms of working principles and design parameters. Mancini et al. (1992, 1994) analyzed the parameters affecting the chain saw machine performance and the chain cutting was geostatistically simulated. The obtained resultswere compared with field performance of chain saw machines. The in-situ chain saw applications were analyzed by Mancini et al. (2001) in terms of cutting performance, tool wear rate and stone parameters. Primavori (2006) investigated the operational conditions of chain saw machines so as to understand the effective usage of these machines. Copur et al. (2007) carried out full scale linear rock cutting tests in order to analyze the cutting characteristics of chain saw machines. Copur (2010) suggested a deterministic model in order to predict the areal net cutting rate (ANCR) of chain saw machines.
