DETERMINATION OF MAXIMUM TORQUE DURING CARPENTRY WASTE COMMINUTION

In order to elaborate design guidelines for developing efficient and possibly most energy saving mills for comminuting carpentry, OSB and MDF waste, there have been performed some tests aimed at torque demand on the working unit of the machinery participating in that process. The tests were carried out on a cylindrical wood chipper. There were indicated the maximum, minimum and average values of the torque, indispensable for the comminution of boards with defined geometric sizes (5 - 50 mm wide) and thickness (3 - 28 mm). The value of torque required in the comminution of carpentry waste increases with growing cross section, and the torque vs. cross section relation is approximately linear. The presented values may constitute not only a set of input data indispensable for modeling the power which is necessary for the comminution process, but they can also enable the validation of the existing cutting models with a single cylinder cutter.