<p>Bandsawing of structural sections like I-beam, round tubes, and square tubes has its challenges, such as interrupted cutting, ruinous harmonics, and varying cross-section. The use of cutting fluid is hence essential in sawing structural applications to improve blade life. Industry predominately uses flood coolant or Minimum Quantity Lubricant (MQL) mist system for structural sawing applications. Apart from the flood coolant's adverse environmental effect and maintenance cost, it causes considerable clutter on the shop floor, especially while cutting structural materials. Due to these disadvantages of flood coolant, MQL mist systems are increasingly becoming popular for structural applications. MQL systems generally use vegetable oil as a lubricant/coolant.&nbsp; No research has been carried out on the effect of the cutting fluid applications (flood and MQL) and the type of fluid on the bandsawing process. In this study, a fundamental investigation on the effect of cutting fluid applications and type of fluid on sawing I-beams and round tubes was carried out. This research hypothesizes that water+ compressed air as a coolant/lubricant for the MQL mist system will be an effective and sustainable sawing solution for structural applications by reducing cutting forces and surface roughness.</p><p>A one and a half-inch (1-1/2”) bimetal band saw blade with 4/6 TPI (variable Tooth Per inch) was used on an Amada horizontal scissor saw at a constant feed and speed. The Saw Blade Lube System™ by UNIST was the MQL system used in this study, and the system was used as recommended by the manufacturers. &nbsp;6”x2”- .250” thick I-beams and 3” diameter - .500” thick tubes were used for the study.&nbsp; Four different cutting fluid applications and coolant combinations, namely, dry, flood application using synthetic oil + water, MQL application using biodegradable vegetable oil + compressed air (recommended by the MQL system manufacturers), and MQL application using water + compressed air (sustainable solution), are studied. A total of eight experiments were carried out (4 in I-beams and 4 in tubes), and a new blade was used for each experiment.&nbsp; Surface roughness, micro-hardness, the perpendicularity of cut (out of square), sawing time, and sawing forces were recorded/measured and analyzed for all four cutting fluid conditions.&nbsp; The chips are studied using an optical microscope to understand the effect of different cutting fluid applications.&nbsp; The results show that water + air can be used as a sustainable cutting fluid solution with an MQL system for band sawing structural sections. This study lays a road map for optimizing the cutting fluid application for band sawing.</p>

An Experimental Study on Sustainable Bandsawing Solutions for Structural Applications

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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