1.Rock removal
Breaking of rock or massive pieces of concrete can best be compared to the breaking of an apple. The pulling force of your thumbs is applied to the tops while no forces is applied on thebottom of the apple. The sample principle is folowed when using the hydraulic splitter.
Drill your hole in such a way that the working tip of your splitter is somewhere between the surface of the mass to be split and its center.
2. Types of rock
For best control of break or for increased force, use two or more tools simultaneously. In soft or stratified materials, or reinforced concrete, use enlarging feathers for increased expansion.
Where material is more or less confined, such as in trenches or tunnels and material is hard, use two or more splitters.
2.Types of rock
Some knowledge of the material to be broken is helpful. The following information should be of some aid in planning operation of the splitter.
Certain rocks, not necessarily the hardest , produce fast wear on drill....silica sandstone is such a materail. Lacting and choosing the direction of the split is important.
As indicated in the table, tensile strength, inprotant for splitting is much less that compressive strength. For larger blocks to be split along larger areas, 2 or more splitters are to be used. Because of the tremendous stresses which plug and feathers must undergo, it is advisable to avoid any secondary streeses by drilling holes as straight as possible. This way, bending of plug and feathers udner stress are avoided, which when repeated, would lead to premature failture. Holes should be drilled as straight as possible as it extends considerably the life of the plug and feather assembly.
3.How to create a face in a rock with a vertical seam. The following procedure is recommended:
1. Drill the first hole about 1-0.5’ from the seam.
2. Drill the hole at a 45 degree angle.
3. Place the splitter in the hole and rotate the tool until the handle is parallel to the seam. This will break out a triangular piece of rock. Repeat this several times to enlarge a good working face. Rock can now be broken on either side of the seam.
Selecting the proper location to drill hole:
When drilling, visuallize future breaking. Always drill more or less perpendicular to largest even area parallel to possible strata in rock.
Splitting is very inefficient when drilled hole is placed in the wrong position
First, the drilled hole is not perpendicular to the surface; and in addition, it is off center. When plug is extended, the weak side will peel off and only a small piece will break off. This type of hole placed on the side, will restrict the movement of the splitter causing the plug and feathers to bend. It is important that the tool move freely while the power is applied.
This drawing(Fig. 2) shows the correct method to break this shape rock. Note the rock splitter is perpendicular to the largest area parallel to the possible strata in the rock. This approach will give best results in sound material.
The rock or concrete will usually split along the flat side plane of the operate to control splitting as required. It is usually most economical to make size as large as can be removed with available excavating or hoisting equipment-piece can be made as large as several tons or as small as 1 cu.ft.