Diamond wire cutting: failure modes, risks for safety and workers’ protection

Despite the fast development and diffusion of diamond wire cutting, the intrinsic risk of death caused by the ejection of diamond beads in case of wire breakage is still an open problem. This project, sponsored by Italian Carrara manufacturers, aims to evaluate and improve the safety of diamond wire saw machines. This paper describes the phenomena occurring immediately after wire breakage during squaring operations of marble blocks. The results of a systematic series of full-scale experiments with provoked breakage and of laboratory wire testing are provided. Over 30 experiments have been documented by high-speed imaging and analyzed in two conditions: without protections, to examine the behaviour of a free diamond wire (which has been also simulated by a numerical model) and with various protection equipments, to assess their effectiveness in eliminating all or at least drastic...