CASE STUDY ON OPTIMIZING DISC CUTTER SPACING BASED ON VERTICAL FORCE THRESHOLD IN COLORADO RED GRANITE CUTTING USING LS-DYNA SOFTWARE

This research initially employed a Lagrangian algorithm to simulate two uniaxial compressive and Brazilian tests for validating the calibrated structural model, with errors recorded at 2.5% and 13%, respectively. Subsequently, using meshfree Galerkin particles and the Johnson-Holmquist concrete material model, simulations of linear shear cutting of Colorado red granite were performed, achieving errors of 10% for vertical force and 13% for rotational force compared to the experimental results from Gertsch and colleagues. These results indicate that the modelling possesses sufficient validity. Instead of determining the optimal spacing through specific energy, a method based on 80% of the maximum vertical force tolerable by the cutting disc is proposed, which aligns with the specific energy method that has significant rigidity and drawbacks, demonstrating that this alternative approach is considerably advantageous and simpler. The optimal spacing calculated for 17-inch discs is determined to be 76 mm.