In the classical approach, energetic effects (cutting forces and cutting power) of wood sawing process are generally calculated on the basis of the specific cutting resistance, which is in the case of wood cutting the function of more or less important factors. On the other hand, cutting forces (or power—more interesting from energetic point of view) could be considered from a point of view of modern fracture mechanics. Cutting forces may be employed to determine not only toughness but also shear yield strength, which are then applied in the models. Furthermore, forecasting of the shear plane angle for the cutting models, which include fracture toughness in addition to plasticity and friction, broadens possibilities of energetic effects modelling of the sawing process even for small values of the uncut chip. Mentioned models are useful for estimation of energetic effects of sawing of every kinematics. However, for band saws and circular sawing machines, the chip acceleration power variation as a function of mass flow and tool velocity ought to be included in analysis of sawing at larger cutting speeds.

Lightweight alloys made from aluminium are used to manufacture cars, trains and planes. The main parts most often manufactured from thin sheets requiring the use of milling in the manufacturing process are front panels for control systems, housing parts for electrical and electronic components. As a result of the final phase of the manufacturing process, cold rolling, residual stresses remain in the surface layers, which can influence the cutting processes carried out on these materials. The main aim of this study was to verify whether the strategy of removing the outer material layers of aluminium alloy sheets affects the surface roughness after the face milling process. EN AW-6082-T6 aluminium alloy thin plates with three different thicknesses and with two directions relative to the cold rolling process direction (longitudinal and transverse) were analysed. Three different strategies for removing the outer layers of the material by face milling were considered. Noticeable differences in surface roughness 2D and 3D parameters were found among all machining strategies and for both rolling directions, but these differences were not statistically significant. The lowest values of Ra = 0.34 µm were measured for the S#3 strategy, which asymmetrically removed material from both sides of the plate (main and back), for an 8-mm-thick plate in the transverse rolling direction. The highest values of Ra = 0.48 µm were measured for a 6-mm-thick plate milled with the S#2 strategy, which symmetrically removed material from both sides of the plate, in the longitudinal rolling direction. However, the position of the face cutter axis during the machining process was observed to have a significant effect on the surface roughness. A higher surface roughness was measured in the areas of the tool point transition from the up-milling direction to the down-milling direction (tool axis path) for all analysed strategies (Ra = 0.63–0.68 µm). The best values were obtained for the up-milling direction, but in the area of the smooth execution of the process (Ra = 0.26–0.29 µm), not in the area of the blade entry into the material. A similar relationship was obtained for analysed medians of the arithmetic mean height (Sa) and the root-mean-square height (Sq). However, in the case of the S#3 strategy, the spreads of results were the lowest.

In the classical approaches, used in Central Europe in practice, cutting forces and cutting power in sawing processes of timber are commonly computed by means of the specific cutting resistancek_c. It needs to be highlighted that accessible sources in handbooks and the scientific literature do not provide any data about wood provenance, nor about cutting conditions, in which cutting resistance has been empirically determined. In the analyses of sawing processes, the use of a model with elements of fracture mechanics involved is an alternative way. In this work, predictions of the newly developed model (FRAC_MOD) for the circular sawing machine are presented. Thanks to this modern approach, it was possible to reveal the usefulness of the FRAC_MOD, using experimental results data on fracture toughness and shear yield stresses of both Polish pine (Pinus sylvestrisL.) and Czech beech wood (Fagus sylvaticaL.). The achieved results were compared to the forecasted values obtained with classical models (CLAS_PL and CLAS_CZ), which are commonly applied in Central European sawmills. The carried out analyses allowed us to discover undesired effects in the form of underestimation of cutting power when applying the CLAS_PL and CLAS_CZ models. For that reason, the FRAC_MOD cutting model could be suggested for the prediction of energetic effects in cases of dynamical analyses and even unsteady cases.

The goal of this work is to investigate the impact of thermal modification of birch wood with saturated steam on the particle size distribution of the sawing and milling process. Birch wood (Betula pendula Roth) is an excellent source to produce plywood boards. Wastes from mechanical processing of birch wood are suitable to produce composite materials. Granulometric analyses of chips from sawing processes on the PRW 15M frame saw, as well as on the 5-axis CNC machining centre SCM TECH Z5 and the 5-axis CNC machining centre AX320 Pinnacle, proved that more than 95% of chips are chips of coarse and medium coarse chip fractions with dimensions above 0.125 mm. Depending on the shape, coarse and medium-thick chips belong to the group of fiber chips, the length of which is several times greater than the width and thickness. Fine fractions with dimensions smaller than 125 μm are isometric chips that are approximately the same size in all three dimensions. Thoracic dust fractions below 30 μm were not measured. The performed analyses showed that the heat treatment of birch wood with saturated steam did not affect the grain size of chips formed in sawing and milling processes on CNC machining centre and can be used as a raw material for the production of composite materials. Fabric filters are suitable for separating chips extracted from frame saws, PRW-15M or machining centre. Environmental criteria for the separation of chips from transport air in textile filters are met by filters with a fabric classified in class G4.