Assessment of sharpening profile effects on the efficiency of cutting tools for tire recycling: a numerical study

Abstract

Abstract Recycling end-of-life tires (ELTs) poses an enormous challenge in waste management, as tires are not biodegradable and, if not correctly disposed of, can cause problems for human health and the environment. The transportation of ELTs from waste collection points to recycling facilities is one of the biggest problems in the recycling process, as a whole piece of ELT takes a large volume, resulting in high costs and transport delays. Therefore, a possible solution is a pre-cutting process at collection points to reduce volume and facilitate transport. Cutting processes play an essential role; hence, the devices used in this operation must be efficient to keep a minimum energy consumption. This study addresses the numerical evaluation of several blade profiles to find the most efficient regarding the force and work done for the cutting of tire tread. The numerical results regarding the performance of the profiles were validated experimentally confirming that the most efficient geometry between the evaluated correspond to a hollow profile.