Hard rock disc cutting technologies: Fundamentals of cutter/rock interaction and rock failure mechanism

The Challenge

In a hard rock environment, conventional tools such as drag bits and roller discs suffer from the twin issues of excessive wear rate and high reaction force.

To overcome these constraints, the market is continuously evolving with concepts such as the energy efficient concept of actuated disc cutting (ADC) being proposed requiring the development of a predictive model to understand the ADC and predict fragmentation by considering force dynamics and fragment sizes and the effects of ADC key variables.

Key Findings

A model to understand the new and energy efficient actuated disc cutting method (ADC), predict the energy requirements for different rock types fragmentation, considering the force dynamics and fragment sizes, and understand the effects of key control variables.

Benefit to WA

Benefits to Western Australia will accrue once the active disc cutting technology is applied into cutting machines. This will create the ability to mine selectively with about 10% of the energy leading to significant cost savings and contribution to decarbonisation.

Key words: actuated, disc, rock, cutting, energy, model