Fluidic Conveying of Chips with Through a Horizontal Pipe

Abstract

In order to accomplish the automation of machining process completely, chips must be continuously conveyed from machine tools to the disposal system by mechanical and fluidic methods. The latter method is more suitable for conveying chips produced under wet condition than with the former, but the mechanism of conveying chips through a horizontal pipe has not yet been clarified. Therefore, in this study the mechanism of hydraulic conveying of chips has been experimentally analyzed. From the results, it was found that the drag coefficient of conveying chips estimated with the representative area, obtained from the number of chips per unit volume, and maximum relative velocity is nearly constant within a range of Reynolds numbers from 20 to 10000. In addition, it was revealed that the maximum velocity for conveying chips through the pipe can be approximately estimated by using the void ratio and the number of chips per unit volume.