Content

Tooth pitch vs Fill ratio

Saw blade vs Excavator
Tooth pitch, intake surface area
Tooth fillratio
Fill ratio vs cutting speed

Why?

Why all the math?

Based on facts instead of feelings
Uniform
Consequent
Can be used on all materials
Can be used on any size or type of products
Improves process dependability

Result:
One or two blades cut all products
Better understanding how to choose cutting parameters
Easier to introduce new cutoff applications
and obtain good results right from the start

Tooth pitch vs. fill ratio

Tooth pitch vs. fill ratio

Tooth pitch vs. fill ratio

Check out the

volume of chips
Generated during
the cutting`process!

The chips evacuated are made by the teeth of a sawblade.

The room these chips need while they are formed, needs to be available
between the teeth. That room we call the gullet area.

The gullet area is very much like the size of the bucket

How big the gullet area is, is determined by the distance between the teeth
This distance between teeth we call the tooth pitch

Circumference of the blade

It all started with Archimedes
Which blade has 1m
circumference (perimeter):
a) 225x2x32
b) 315x2,5x40
c) 325x3x32
d) 350x2,5x40
e) 370x3x40

Circumference

P = 2r = x D
0,707 m
0,989 m
1,021 m
1,099 m
1,162 m

Tooth pitch

circumference of blade
Tooth pitch = _____________________
number of teeth

T =

____

x Diameter
_________________
number of teeth

xD

= _______
Z

The gullet
To calculate how much material can be removed by one tooth (bucket)
we need to calculate the size of the gullet area: the surface of the orange
area

To make calculation easier we asume the surface is a circle

Intake surface

The diameter of this circle

is half of the pitch
Intake surface or gullet area is the size of the
bucket

Maximum intake surface:

100% = r = (D/2)
= D / 2 = D/4
Maximum intake surface:

100% = D

But T being a Tooth pitch, intake surface is also

= ( T) = T

100% = 1/16 T

Intake surface

Sawblade diameter

D = 315 mm

Amount of teeth

Z = 180 teeth

Toothpitch

T = 315 x / 180 = 5.5 mm

100% intake surface

( T) = 5.93 mm2

Chip forming

During cutting, the gullet fills with chip material

The surface of the chip is decided by its length and thickness

Tooth pitch vs. fill ratio

Question: What determines how full the bucket/gullet is going to be?

Answer: forward speed of bucket + length of arc of contact bucket/soil
This arc of contact is what we call the longest cut length (LCL)

Longest cutting length (LCL)

Longest Cut Length (LCL)

W

Overfill

A typical example of overfill: sand overflow.

When sand falls back to the ground, energy is wasted.
By choosing a good balance between feed rate and arc of contact,
the efficiency of the chip/soil evacuation process can be optimized.

Fill ratio

To allow the chip to be removed, and to prevent damage to the tooth, the
surface of the chip may not exceed a certain percentage
Standard value for this fill ratio is: 10%

Fill ratio

= Fill ratio (%)

Overfill
What all cutting processes have in common, is that material must be
removed.
Just like the Excavator, you need to choose
The right size of the bucket (tooth pitch)
The forward speed (Fz, tooth load)
When a incorrect combination of parameters is used, a problem of

Overfill can be encountered!

Good chips, right fill

Normal filling of the gullets / buckets

Good choice of tooth pitch and feed rate

Danger zone

Chips too thick, danger zone

Pitch too small or feed rate too high for applicable longest cutting length

Overfill

Overfill: chips too thick, overload, vibration, breakage of saw blade.

Feed to high for LCL, pitch too small

Fill ratio

Normal

Danger zone

Overfill

Longest cutting length (LCL or Lmax)

So: we need to figure out the arc of contact
Between sawblade and cut product
___________

Lmax = 2 x

(D W) x W)

Lmax Longest cutting length

D diameter
W Wall thickness

D 25 mm
W 2,0 mm
Lmax = 2 x

Lmax
___________

(25 2) x 2) = 13,56 mm

W
D

Chip surface calculation

Chip surface

Chip surface =
Lmax x Fz (Feedrate mm / tooth)

Fz

LCL
W
D

Tooth Fill ratio calculation

Sawblade 315 mm
Z = 180
T = Tooth pitch = 5.5 mm
Tube 25 x 2,0 mm
Feed rate = 0,08 mm/tooth
_____________

Lmax =2 x

(D W) x W)

_____________

=2x

(25 2) x 2) = 13,56 mm

Chip surface = Lmax x Feed rate = 13,56 x 0,08 = 1,08 mm2

Intake surface = ( T) = T = 1/16 T =
= 1/16 x 3,14 x 5,5 = 5.93 mm2

Tooth fill ratio

100 %

= Chip surface / max intake surface x

= (1,08 / 5,93) x 100% = 18,2 %

Speed and limitations

When speed is limited, one can get away with a high fill ratio
and still manage to go around a corner

Speed and limitations

When speed increases,

the max fill ratio is reduced
and so is max corner speed

Speed and limitations

When speed is very high, one needs to be even more careful with the fill ratio
When speed is increased, more room is required to prevent accidents.

How fast can you go?

The same applies to chips. When cutting speed is raised, max fill ratio is
reduced.

25%
50 m/min

20%
100 m/min

15%
200 m/min

Trials show, a good balance between blade life and chip evacuation, is
obtained when fill ratio does not exceed the limits mentioned above.
- Mechanical limitations of cutoff machine can also limit maximum possible
fill ratio (vibration, motorpower)
- Fully coated sawblades can be run at 30% fill ratio, even at high cutting
speeds!

Thank you for your attention