The phenomenon of tools’ wear in a marble quarry: laboratory tests to evaluate the performance of conditioning as a wear preventer

Exploitation with a chain saw cutting machine has been the ordinary industrial practice in marble excavation for over thirty years, due to its ability to adapt to difficult environments and to guarantee a high level of safety during the cutting phase. Nevertheless, the presence of impurities in the calcite matrix, e.g. quartz, leads to the problem of rapid and unusual wear on cutting tools. In this study, two laboratory tests were selected and carried out to estimate the rock's wear potential: the CERCHAR Abrasivity test and the Soil Abrasion Test Apparatus (SATA). The results highlight a high degree of abrasivity in dry conditions, which was satisfactorily reduced by using water and additives. This mixture, typically used in tunnelling applications, is intended to decrease the wear from rock excavation and a significant reduction of this phenomenon has been noticed.