An asssessment of the correlation between the strength and cuttability of rock

Mechanical rock excavators are widely used in the mining and civil industries. Estimating the performance of these machines can be difficult as well as a costly and time-consuming process. A number of methods exist to assess the cuttability of a rock, ranging from laboratory based cutting tests through to more convenient empirical approaches. Recent research has focussed on developing empirical relationships between rock cutting performance and rock properties involving an indirect assessment of cuttability. This paper outlines the results of a study to determine the level of correlation between the strength and cuttability for rock that is commonly associated with coal-measure formations. A resonable correlation was found between the uniaxial compressive strength and cuttability performance of rock samples, the latter including specific energy, cutting force and normal forces.