JOURNAL OF TESTING AND EVALUATION, cilt.42, sa.4, ss.931-941, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
The consumption of electricity during the cutting processes of natural building stones by using block cutters is investigated in this study. To achieve this goal, a power analyzer was installed on the line that transfers electrical power to the vertical saw of the block cutters that are used in natural building stone-processing plants in 11 regions nationwide in Turkey, and the electrical power-consumption readings were taken during the natural stone-cutting processes accordingly. Electrical power-consumption data were recorded at the natural building stone-processing plants under 69 different cutting conditions on 24 different limestone marbles for a range of feed rates and cutting depths during and prior to the cutting process as a result of the measurements taken. It was determined that the power-consumption readings taken exhibited variations in three different regions based on the recorded data. Consequently, a model curve was proposed that explains the electrical power consumption during the cutting process of limestone marbles by using block cutters as a result of the analysis of the data obtained. Furthermore, a novel approach was proposed for the calculation of specific cutting energy during the natural building stone-cutting processes based on the model curve.