Laboratory setup to study cutting forces of blunt chisels

Dredging of rock using a cutter head as found on a cutter suction dredger will become increasingly more important as drilling and blasting is often prohibited. Understanding the cutting process and resulting forces on the chisels can lead to improved design and operational efficiency. The majority of experimental and numerical work performed considers rock cutting with an unworn or sharp chisel, often omitting the normal force. This article presents the linear rock cutting setup developed by Royal IHC to study the effect of a worn or blunt chisel geometry on the cutting forces, with the emphasis on the normal force.