Wood cutting properties for the chains of chainsaw is measured in the lab by analyzing the force, torque, consumed power and other aspects of the chain as it cuts through the wood log. One of the essential properties of the chains is the cutting efficiency which is the measured cutting surface per the power used for cutting per the time unit. These data are not available beforehand and therefore, cutting efficiency cannot be measured before performing the cut. Cutting efficiency is related to the relativehardness of the wood which means that it is affected by the existence of knots (hardstructure areas) and cracks (no material areas). The actual situation is that all the cuts with knots and cracks are eliminated and just the clean cuts are used, therefore estimating the relative wood hardness by identifying the knots and cracks beforehand can significantly help to automate the process of testing the chain properties, saving time and material and give a better understanding of cutting wood logs to improve chains quality.Many studies have been done to develop methods to analyze and measure different features of an end face. This thesis work is carried out to evaluate a machinelearning model to detect knots and cracks on end faces and to understand their impact on the average cutting efficiency. Mask R-CNN is widely used for instance segmentation and in this thesis work, Mask R-CNN is evaluated to detect and segment knots and cracks on an end face. Methods are also developed to estimatepith’s vertical position from the wood image and generate average cutting efficiency graph based on knot’s and crack’s percentage at each vertical position of wood image.

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting is a versatile technique which has been effectively applied to rock cutting since the late 1980s. The complexity of the interaction between the waterjet and the rocks complicates the thorough understanding of the phenomena involved in AWJ rock cutting. On one hand, rocks are complex materials which are generated through different processes in an uncontrolled environment without human interference. On the other hand, the AWJ acts with high velocity and turbulence, complicating direct observation and the perception of details. In this respect, the present research aims to contribute to the study of AWJ cutting applied to rocks, including the analysis of qualitative and quantitative information, both of great importance regarding the study of complex materials. Concerning quantitative data, special attention is given to the investigation of the cutting efficiency, which can be analyzed by observing conditions in which the higher cutting rate is associated with the minimum energy provided by the AWJ machine per removed volume of rock. Moreover, the real efficiency can be analyzed through the investigation of the conditions in which the major part of the energy provided by the AWJ machine is used effectively for rock cutting, deducting dissipation losses. The effects of varying traverse velocity and pump pressure on cutting parameters were also investigated, in addition to the influence of rock properties on the effective energy of cutting. The effective energy was calculated based both on the specific energy and specific destruction work of the materials. With respect to the qualitative investigation, petrographic and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were conducted in order to visualize and better understand the different effects of cutting on the studied rocks. Cutting tests with a traverse velocity of 200 mm/min and a pump pressure of 400 MPa presented the most efficient rock cutting regarding both methods of efficiency analysis. Dry density and tensile strength presented fair correlations with the effective cutting energy, while the modulus ratio presented the best correlations. It was observed that brittleness plays a key role in the understanding of the phenomena involved in AWJ rock cutting. / O jato d\'água abrasivo (AWJ) é uma técnica versátil que tem sido efetivamente aplicada ao corte de rochas desde o fim da década de 1980. A complexidade da interação entre o jato e as rochas dificulta a compreensão detalhada dos fenômenos envolvidos no corte de rochas com AWJ. Por um lado, rochas são materiais complexos gerados em ambientes sem interferência humana. Por outro lado, o AWJ age com alta velocidade e turbulência, dificultando a observação direta do procedimento. Assim, a presente tese de doutorado visa a contribuir com o estudo do corte de rochas com AWJ, incluindo análises de dados qualitativos e quantitativos, ambos de grande importância em estudos de materiais complexos. A análise quantitativa possui foco na investigação da eficiência de corte, a qual pode ser analisada por meio da observação das condições em que há a maior taxa de corte associada à mínima energia fornecida pelo AWJ por volume de rocha removido. Além disso, a eficiência real do corte pode ser analisada a partir da investigação das condições em que a maior parte da energia fornecida pelo AWJ é usada para efetivamente cortar a rocha, descontando perdas por dissipação. Os efeitos da variação da velocidade transversal de corte e da pressão da bomba nos parâmetros de corte também foram investigados, além da influência das propriedades das rochas na energia efetiva de corte. A energia efetiva de corte, denominada energia relativa de formação da ranhura (EKR), foi calculada com base na energia específica e no trabalho de destruição específico dos materiais. Análises de microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) e petrografia foram conduzidas para visualizar e compreender melhor os diferentes efeitos do corte nas rochas estudadas. Os testes de corte realizados com velocidade transversal do bocal de 200 mm/min e pressão da bomba de 400 MPa apresentaram as melhores eficiências de corte considerando-se ambos os métodos de análise de eficiência. Dentre as propriedades das rochas investigadas, a massa específica e a resistência à tração por compressão diametral apresentaram correlações razoáveis com EKR, enquanto que o modulus ratio apresentou as melhores correlações. Observou-se que a ruptibilidade possui papel fundamental na compreensão dos fenômenos envolvidos no corte de rochas com AWJ.

Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting is a versatile technique which has been effectively applied to rock cutting since the late 1980s. The complexity of the interaction between the waterjet and the rocks complicates the thorough understanding of the phenomena involved in AWJ rock cutting. On one hand, rocks are complex materials which are generated through different processes in an uncontrolled environment without human interference. On the other hand, the AWJ acts with high velocity and turbulence, complicating direct observation and the perception of details. In this respect, the present research aims to contribute to the study of AWJ cutting applied to rocks, including the analysis of qualitative and quantitative information, both of great importance regarding the study of complex materials. Concerning quantitative data, special attention is given to the investigation of the cutting efficiency, which can be analyzed by observing conditions in which the higher cutting rate is associated with the minimum energy provided by the AWJ machine per removed volume of rock. Moreover, the real efficiency can be analyzed through the investigation of the conditions in which the major part of the energy provided by the AWJ machine is used effectively for rock cutting, deducting dissipation losses. The effects of varying traverse velocity and pump pressure on cutting parameters were also investigated, in addition to the influence of rock properties on the effective energy of cutting. The effective energy was calculated based both on the specific energy and specific destruction work of the materials. With respect to the qualitative investigation, petrographic and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were conducted in order to visualize and better understand the different effects of cutting on the studied rocks. Cutting tests with a traverse velocity of 200 mm/min and a pump pressure of 400 MPa presented the most efficient rock cutting regarding both methods of efficiency analysis. Dry density and tensile strength presented fair correlations with the effective cutting energy, while the modulus ratio presented the best correlations. It was observed that brittleness plays a key role in the understanding of the phenomena involved in AWJ rock cutting. / O jato d\'água abrasivo (AWJ) é uma técnica versátil que tem sido efetivamente aplicada ao corte de rochas desde o fim da década de 1980. A complexidade da interação entre o jato e as rochas dificulta a compreensão detalhada dos fenômenos envolvidos no corte de rochas com AWJ. Por um lado, rochas são materiais complexos gerados em ambientes sem interferência humana. Por outro lado, o AWJ age com alta velocidade e turbulência, dificultando a observação direta do procedimento. Assim, a presente tese de doutorado visa a contribuir com o estudo do corte de rochas com AWJ, incluindo análises de dados qualitativos e quantitativos, ambos de grande importância em estudos de materiais complexos. A análise quantitativa possui foco na investigação da eficiência de corte, a qual pode ser analisada por meio da observação das condições em que há a maior taxa de corte associada à mínima energia fornecida pelo AWJ por volume de rocha removido. Além disso, a eficiência real do corte pode ser analisada a partir da investigação das condições em que a maior parte da energia fornecida pelo AWJ é usada para efetivamente cortar a rocha, descontando perdas por dissipação. Os efeitos da variação da velocidade transversal de corte e da pressão da bomba nos parâmetros de corte também foram investigados, além da influência das propriedades das rochas na energia efetiva de corte. A energia efetiva de corte, denominada energia relativa de formação da ranhura (EKR), foi calculada com base na energia específica e no trabalho de destruição específico dos materiais. Análises de microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) e petrografia foram conduzidas para visualizar e compreender melhor os diferentes efeitos do corte nas rochas estudadas. Os testes de corte realizados com velocidade transversal do bocal de 200 mm/min e pressão da bomba de 400 MPa apresentaram as melhores eficiências de corte considerando-se ambos os métodos de análise de eficiência. Dentre as propriedades das rochas investigadas, a massa específica e a resistência à tração por compressão diametral apresentaram correlações razoáveis com EKR, enquanto que o modulus ratio apresentou as melhores correlações. Observou-se que a ruptibilidade possui papel fundamental na compreensão dos fenômenos envolvidos no corte de rochas com AWJ.

Manufacturers of saw chains continuously strive to increase the performance of their products by reducing cutting times and minimising the energy consumption required for cutting. However, the evaluation process through testing is problematic as several uncontrollable factors impact the results. A large source of uncontrollable factors is the material used as a workpiece. Historically, wood has been used as a workpiece material since it is often what the end user will use it for. As a natural material, each stem contains a unique structure and can have a high variation in mechanical properties. Consequently, the analysis of older cutting efficiency is problematic since the result is linked to the specific stem being sawn, which is destroyed during the testing process. The current work aims to improve the repeatability of these tests by increasing the understanding of which material characteristics and material properties impact the variance during cutting efficiency measurements. An experiment was performed using pine as a workpiece material. It was found that the wood structure, density and hardness or moisture content could explain approximately 80% of the variation in the final tests. A more homogeneous material polyethylene was used to explore if a decrease in variation within these factors resulted in lower variance between cutting efficiency results. The variance between results was found to be lowest in pine when knots were excluded. The variance in polyethylene was slightly higher but showed promising evidence for being a suitable alternative material for long-term testing.