Professional strategies for concrete sawing and drilling are prevalent in countries like USA, Japan, Australia and Europe. In India, it really is still a young but growing industry. Because of an elevated spending on infrastructure projects and residential & commercial construction, India holds tremendous potential regarding diamond tools and concrete sawing and drilling.
Another critical factor inducing the adoption of the sophisticated methods will be the constantly rising labour costs. Over the last decade, concrete and construction industry has experienced sharp increases in labor rates and overhead expenses. Because of the high labor and expenses linked to most sawing and cut to length machine, the speed in which the job is completed is now vital. Using outdated cutting &drilling techniques and drilling equipment that heavily will depend on guessing and operator testing only result in waste of money and time. Today, as a way to remain competitive, the contractors are under pressure to embrace more sophisticated methods of concrete sawing & drilling.
“The industry for floor saws, wall saws and powered drilling machines have been in a nascent stage today but growing at about 40% per year as the fee for labor rises, using machines to quicken work and increase productivity and excellence of work will increase phenomenally. Presently about 600 machines Floor Saws, Wall Saws and Powered Drilling Machines will be in operation. Low Powered Hand Held Drilling and sawing have been in many thousands and is particularly hard to give even an approximate number.” – M.Venkatesh, Executive Director, Diabu Diamond Tools
Professional diamond concrete cutting systems provides significant advantages over conventional concrete removal methods. Included in this are reduced downtime, precision cutting, repair of structural integrity, reduced noise, dust and debris, limited-access cutting, and the opportunity to cut heavily-reinforced concrete.
You can find not many organized players inside the core cutting arena. Many of them are extensions of worldwide manufacturers such as Hilti, TYROLIT, Husqvarna and Diabu. As with almost every other industry, the current market is flooded with Chinese equipment and fly by night traders who sell affordable, inferior machines from China with the objective of making quick money. These appliances, however, have no post sales support nor would be the machines suited and created to function in the Indian environment. Mr. Akhil Jain, authorized and exclusive distributor of Husqvarna’s power tools in India says, “Users with low budget prefer to go for low quality Chinese makes but only end up spending much more about repairs.”
With regards to manufacturing facilities in India, no more than 25% are made indigenously, the rest imported as well as the bulk coming from China. Hilti which acquired Bhukhanvala Diamond Systems during 2010 is using it as a its manufacturing facility to further develop and expand the development facility for diamond tools and disks and to strengthen its position within the Indian diamond consumables market.
“HILTI was the pioneer in introducing diamond coring technology in India. Over the past 5-10 years, the technology has matured to some stage where even on residential sites, coring is definitely the preferred technology for fast, vibration-free penetrations. We currently see the market for coring at more than 50 crores.” Shyam Raghunandan, Head Marketing, Hilti India
Manval Goel, Business Head – Construction at TYROLIT India Superabrasives Tools believes the marketplace measurements of controlled concrete dismantling in India is near to INR 120 crores. Including branded and unbranded market too. TYROLIT has a variety of core cutting electric, hydraulic and petrol driven machines. TYROLIT’s machines can do drilling as much as 1000 mm diameters. Its Ultimate Drilling Machine (UDM) can be a self-propelled gasoline driven Stack core cutting machine highly suitable for drilling at runways. TYROLIT has 27 Global Production Units as well as its core cutting machines and drills are produced in Switzerland, Austria, UsaA. and also other parts on the planet. These machines include a manufacturing warranty of 1 year. Also these are generally quite sturdy machines and require suprisingly low mainte-nance. TYROLIT’s Unique Service Concept provides a few of the service requirement at site to manage emergency Breakdowns.
Diabu Machines has recently entered the Indian market. Designed keeping in mind the Indian working conditions as well as the Indian operator, Diabu’s floor saws, wall saws and drilling machines are made in the platform of robust, rigid and productivity. Diabu uses high quality and right configuration steel, extended life and easy to maintain bearings, dust and water protected motors, bearings and all sorts of sliding and rotating parts. Most if not completely fasteners are made from either stainless or rust proof and tensile steel. In addition to being simple to use, maintenance can also be very easy with an easy task to access grease and oil points.
“There is a significant desire for education about controlled dismantling as being a technology from the construction industry. Other challenges correspond with acceptability and adaptability in the technology in a few of the major projects, drilling and sawing vis-à-vis the standard chisel and hammer, economics linked to the technology as this is expensive, application with illiterate labor and localized availability of the technology.”
Selecting the right blade (for the saw, the fabric as well as the job) is the most essential consider getting maximum performance. Many other variables also affect blade performance. Changing any variable can have an impact on cutting speed and blade life.
Concrete cutting as an application oriented process, blades are supplied according to end application requirement and job site requirements. The main concrete cutting tools that are utilized include the wall (or track) saw, the flat (or slab) saw, the core drill, along with the wire saw. Wall sawing is generally specified to slice precise dimensional door, vent and window openings. Straight in addition to bevel cuts are possible with all the wall saw. The wall saw is likewise a great option for creating precise openings in almost any concrete structure. Flat sawing is usually utilized to cut horizontal flat surfaces such as floors, bridge decks, and pavement. Flat saws are generally accustomed to provide expansion joints, remove damaged pavement sections, clean and repair random cracks dexqpky76 repair, and take off concrete sections for demolition purposes. Core drilling techniques are used when precise, circular cuts are essential including openings for plumbing, electrical and HVAC installations, creating holes for routing cables or placing anchoring bolts, installing load carrying devices or dowel bars, or concrete sample analysis. Wire sawing can be used removal of thick sections of concrete. It is fantastic for removing large parts of heavily reinforced concrete, for example piers, towers and bridge sections, and cutting concrete in locations where work space is fixed.
Most of the decision of cutting wet or dry is dependent upon ones preferences and job requirements. Some sawing or drilling is wet, conditions including water scarcity in sites, requirement to help keep the site clean of water/slurry due to proximity with existing office/ factory /commercial/residential space, proximity to electrical or any other such dangerous areas may warrant dry cutting. However, cautions Mr.Venkatesh of Diabu, “If the cutting is dry it will always be wise to use saws which can be laser welded or atleast have special reinforced brazing. Using such blades be sure that the very high heat generated during dry cutting will not damage the blade which could also cause injury and cause accidents.”
Apart from the type of cutting and dry or wet cutting, types of concrete also influence the choice in picking a blade. The duration of curing time after concrete is poured greatly affects the way a diamond blade will connect with it during cutting. Curing can be influenced by weather (temperature, moisture and time of the year) along with the composition (admixtures, aggregate and sand). Cured concrete is usually set a minimum of 2 days. The sand is completely bonded using the mortar as well as the concrete reaches full hardness. Concrete is normally in the green state for 6 to two days after it can be poured. With this early state, the sand is not completely bonded using the mortar and also the concrete doesn’t reach full hardness. When cutting green concrete, the sand loosens more readily, and flows more freely in the slurry, and produces much more abrasion on a diamond blade. Undercut protection is vital when cutting green concrete to avoid excessive wear on the steel core at the segment weld. Green concrete sawing is usual when taking care of new construction projects like; motorways, runways, driveways & industrial flooring.
Both the size and type of aggregate have a great effect on the overall hardness of concrete and also the blade to choose. The aggregate could make up as much as 75% of your total volume. Typically, larger aggregate has a tendency to make the concrete act harder, slowing drilling process. Smaller aggregates tend to make a blade cut faster. Sand is section of the aggregate mix, and determines the abrasiveness of concrete. “Small aggregate” is normally sand. Sand either can be sharp (abrasive) or round (non-abrasive). To discover the sharpness of sand, you must know where the sand is from. Crushed sand and bank sand tend to be sharp; river sand is generally round.
Selection for core drilling operation will even requires learning the diameter from the final hole required, surface finish of your drilled hole, surface and accessibility from the drilling area.
“Tool horsepower, tool reliability and simplicity of use are also important for choosing the proper tool”, adds Mr. Shyam Raghunandan of Hilti, India.
Manav Goel, of TYROLIT summarizes, “Overall, factors like diameter of your core, length of the core, power and speed of motor, percentage reinforcement, grade of concrete, horizontal or vertical drilling, Transformer core cutting machine, anchor or vacuum fixation help in deciding which concrete core cutter for the project.”
Conventional concrete cutting and drilling methods generated a lot of dust. While wet cutting or drilling operation does not generate dust mainly because it uses water, the instance of dust is nearly totally avoided. However, the slurry generated must be cleaned regularly. For dry cutting, most manufacturers have dust extraction systems as accessories.
In addition to saw speed, the ease of transport and installation is necessary in jobsites which have single doors or window openings to be remove or where the saw needs to be constantly moved from one floor to another. Some machines are employed in a modular system thus bringing in certain advantages, since the single component could be easier transported and installed.
When it comes to costs, these machines are not expensive machines and if regularly maintained, the expense of maintenance may be kept as little as any machine a yearly spend of approximately 6% – 10% of the price tag on the machine.
The craze is clearly lighter, lesser, faster and a lot more profitable. But what includes this development is a stronger demand that operators be trained effectively. Also, contractors should be made aware or there ought to be pros who can recommend the best techniques and equipment for the best efficient and price-effective cutting at any stage of the project.
“On the service front, Prime Technologies features a band of service engineers who happen to be always roaming and actively engage themselves in providing solutions and technical advice to clients. They are also involved with training the dealers and customers’ maintenance personnel. They perform a crucial role from the everyday operation of our company. “Akhil Jain, CEO, Prime Technologies.