Wear of paper slitting blades: the effect of slitter machine settings

Abstract Results are presented by wear tests on slitter blades, using a laboratory apparatus designed to simulate an industrial paper slitting machine. Experiments on blades worn with and without paper dust confirmed that three-body abrasion is the principal wear mechanism. A critical open cut distance of 350 μm for 70 g m −2 paper was found to limit the life of blades under each setting condition and critical open cut distances were determined for various grades of paper. A mill trial confirmed that open cut distance is a valid measure of the life of blades. The results were analysed using a simple modification of abrasive wear theory and a linear relationship between volumetric wear and running distance was obtained. A mathematical model to determine the wear angle of blades was shown only to be valid during the ‘running-in’ period