In the modern theory of rock cutting in production conditions, it is customary to distinguish two large classes of achievable cutting modes – relieved and unrelieved. The kinematics of rock-breaking machines in most cases determines the operation of the cutting tool in both modes in one cycle of the cutting tool. The currently available calculation methods have been developed for a stable, usually unrelieved cutting mode. In this article, the task is set to determine the conditions for the transition between cutting modes and the modernization of the calculation method for determining the forces on the cutting tool. The problem is solved by applying methods of algebraic analysis based on the search for the extremum of the force function on the cutter, depending on the ratio of the real cut spacing to the optimal spacing for the current chip thickness. As a result of solving the problem, an expression is obtained for determining the chip thickness, for which, at the specified parameters, the transition between the relieved and unrelieved cutting modes is provided. The obtained result made it possible to improve the method of calculating the forces on the cutting tool in the areas of the cutter movement with relieved cutting.
Development of equipment, which provides access to underground mineral deposits and their extraction, requires the use of all the accumulated experience and advanced scientific research in the area of mechanical rock cutting. The most important issues of using mechanical rock cutting tools are their wearability and consumption, which have an impact on technical and economic indicators of project efficiency. The paper describes Russian and foreign practices of estimating tool wear resistance, expressions to determine critical cutting speed, methods to evaluate tool consumption. It is demonstrated that wearability of mechanical tools and associated effects are to a large extent defined by rock abrasiveness. It is highlighted that in Russia the index is calculated using Baron-Kuznetsov method, which is briefly described in the paper. In many countries with a highly-developed mining industry, rock abrasiveness is estimated with a Cerchar Abrasiveness Index (CAI), recommended by the International Society for Rock Mechanics. Its description is also presented in the paper.
