Course title: BASICS OF WOOD PROCESSING AND CUTTING TOOLS

Semester / Year of study: semester I and II / IIIrd year of study

Course status: compulsory

Objectives:
        Gaining knowledge on machining wood and lignin-cellulose based materials. Understanding the tool-wood interaction phenomena during wood processing. After completing this course, the student is supposed of having gained skills on the following topics:
        - Modelling the machining process of wood and lignin-cellulose based materials.
        - Cutting tools construction.
        - Optimum association of the tool type and its geometry to the machining process.
        - Tools maintenance and exploitation.

Contents:
        The course comprises two major parts:
PART I (1st semester)
        - Basic knowledge of wood cutting - processing methods, definition, presentation.
        - Elements of the chip removal process, movements during the process, chip geometry.
        - Knife geometry, cutting basic cases, basic chip removal process.
        - Factors which influence the chip removal process.
        - Interaction knife-wood (between wood and the cutting edge, between wood and the front of the knife,         between wood and the top of the knife).
        - Set of the interaction forces, quality of the chip removal process.
        - Dynamic parameters released in the chip removal process.
        - Parameters of the chip removal process (chip thickness, the angle obtained during the chip removal         process, dynamic angle etc.).
        - General issues of wood cutting using blades, cutting process using positive and negative angles for         the front of the knife, way of generating the chips in case of wood crosscutting, processes generated by         chips in the tooth gap.
        - Cutting methods:
        - Cutting by means of frame saw blades, band saw blades, circular saw blades.
        - Wood milling.
        - Wood drilling.
        - Wood sanding.
        - Wood turning, rotary cutting and wood slicing.

PART II (2nd semester)
        - Study of metallic materials, which are used in the construction of cutting tools.
        - Construction and exploitation of circular saw blades.
        - Construction and exploitation of frame saw blades and band saw blades.
        - Construction and exploitation of plane irons (knives).
        - Construction and exploitation of milling cutters.
        - Construction and exploitation of drills and abrasive tools.

        The practical laboratory works complete the lectured material. They refer to the following topics:
PART I (1st semester)
        1. Identification - Elements of the chip removal process.
        2. Identification - Geometry of the chip and of the knife.
        3. Identification - Basic and intermediary cases in the chip removal process (identification and         comparison between the processes).
        4. Identification of the geometry - Interaction between wood and knife, blunting of teeth.
        5. Identification and measuring the parameters that define the processed surface state - Quality of the         surfaces obtained after machining and comparative analysis.
        6. Identification and calculus of the dynamic parameters generated by the chip removal process.
        7. Wood cutting using circular blades, general issues of the wood cutting by blades. Identification of         the factors which influence the process.
        8. Identification and measuring the parameters during the wood milling process - acquisition, analysis         and processing of the results.
        9. Identification and measuring the parameters during the wood drilling process - acquisition, analysis         and processing of the results.
        10. Identification and measuring the parameters during the wood turning process - acquisition,         analysis and processing of the results.
        11. Identification and measuring the parameters during the rotary cutting and wood slicing.
        12. Identification and measuring the parameters during the wood sanding process - acquisition,         analysis and processing the results.

PART II (2nd semester)
        1. Steel brands used for the construction of wood-cutting tools.
        2. Construction, sharpening and maintenance of circular saw blades.
        3. Construction, sharpening and maintenance of frame saw blades.
        4. Construction, sharpening and maintenance of band saw blades.
        5. Construction, sharpening and maintenance of plane iron (knives).
        6. Construction, sharpening and maintenance of milling cutters.
        7. Construction, sharpening and maintenance of drills.
        8. Construction and maintenance of abrasive tools.

History:
        The discipline has its roots at the moment of setting up the wood industry specialization, but the knowledge taught at that time was comprised into the content of other disciplines. As a result of the studies and research performed by the professors and specialists in the field, the need of increasing the classes for teaching the students about the gained knowledge year by year, became acute. In 1960 the gained knowledge about the matter went to the setting up of the discipline entitled Tools and devices as a separate one, taught at the beginning by one of the first professors of the Wood Industry Faculty, prof.dr.eng. Ioan FLORESCU. In 1968, the discipline was transferred to prof.dr.eng Victor DOGARU, the future Scientific Secretary, Head of Department, Dean and Vice-Rector of the "Transilvania" University in Brasov, who focused with a remarkable passion on important studies and research work, contributing substantially until 2005 to enlarging the scientific database of the discipline and to developing the infrastructure of the laboratory, by creating and accreditating in cooperation with the National Institute of Wood Bucharest the Laboratory of Testing Wood-Processing Tools.
        Prof.dr.eng. Victor DOGARU published more than one hundred of valuable scripts in this domain, such as monographies, written courses, manuals and guides. We mention here Wood chip removing process and cutting tools, Sharpening of tools in wood industry, Maintenance of tools in wood industry, Basis of the wood processing, Wood sawing, Wood milling et al., books that are still used nowadays by the students, PhD students and the specialists in wood industry.
         All through this time, the discipline was entitled differently, as: Tools, Devices and Checking Devices, Basis of the Mechanical Wood Processing, Wood Cutting and Cutting Tools, today being entitled Basics of Wood Processing and Cutting Tools. For the enriching of the references data base, more than 100 PhD students were coordinated by prof.dr.eng. Victor DOGARU. Among them, also prof.dr.eng Loredana Anne-Marie BADESCU, who started her activity as assistant in 1980, continuing it as lecturer, assistant professor and finally as professor at this discipline, but also dr.eng Wilhelm LAURENZI, assistant professor and dr.eng. Luminita BRENCI, both of them conducting laboratory and project classes and contributing with their PhD-theses and also with other research and publications to enriching the scientific content of the discipline. The scientific database resulted after the research work performed till now allowed to split the initial discipline into other two ones, starting with 1992, as follows: Wood Chip Removal and Cutting Tools, on one hand, and Devices for Wood Industry, on the other hand, the two disciplines being taught by prof.dr.eng. Victor DOGARU and prof.dr.eng. Loredana BADESCU. This discipline constituted also the basics for the discipline entitled Modelling and Optimisation of Wood Machining Processes, taught by prof.dr.eng. Loredana BADESCU at the master-degree specialization of the faculty.
During these years, project and laboratory classes were also taught by eng. Gheorghe MANOLE, eng. Dan RUSU, eng. Ion CIMPOIA, prof.dr.eng Mihai BULARCA et al.
        Starting with 2005, the discipline was taught in Romanian language (IPL and IPFL sections) by prof.dr.eng. Loredana BADESCU and by assist.prof.dr.eng. Wilhelm LAURENZI in English language (WE section). Starting with 2008, assist.prof.dr.eng. Luminita BRENCI assumes the second part of the discipline, taught during the second semester, at IPL specialization, in Romanian language.

Present Heads of Discipline:
        - Prof.dr.eng. Loredana Anne-Marie BADESCU, graduate of the Wood Industry Faculty in Brasov, class 1976.

Title of PhD thesis: "Contribution to the Fine Cutting Process of Wood Using Circular Blades", defended in May 1997, at the "Transilvania" University of Brasov.

Publications: over 100 publications, out of which the most significant (in English or French language) are:
        - BADESCU, L. (2008). Study of chip formation process during MDF milling. International Conference         Challenges in higher education and research in 21st century 4-7 June 2008 Sozopol, Bulgaria.
        - BADESCU, L. (2007). Surface roughness evaluation related to cutting forces in routing MDF. In:         Proceedings of International Conference "Challenges in Higher Education and Research in 21st         Century", Technical University Sofia.
        - BADESCU, L (2003). Mathematical model for determining the chip geometry in circular sawing         process. International Wood Machining Seminar I.W.M.S./16, august 2003, Matsue, Japonia.
        - BADESCU, L. (2002). Les limites de l'avoyage pour les scies circulaires. ICWSE-2002, noiembrie         2002, Brasov, România.
        - BADESCU, L. (2002). The mathematical and experimental model for determining the cutting forces in         circular saw process. ICWSE-2002, Brasov, România.
        - BADESCU, L. (2001). Determination of the forces generated on the tooth during the fine circular         cutting of the wood. W.M.S. 15, University of California Berkeley, Los Angeles, SUA.

Titles and Awards:
        - 2002 - present: Director of the Scientific Research Centre in the domain of WOOD MACHINING         (CCSPL)
        - 2000 - present: Director/member of the research-development projects of the national and         international programs (Relansin, CNCSIS, CEEX, PN2, Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, TEMPUS)
        - 2002 - present: Evaluating expert CNCSIS, RELANSIN, PNCDI, PN2
        - 2003 - present: Member of AGIR - Romania
        -2003 - present: Member of ASTB - France
        - 2004 - present: Member of GUB- France
        - 2004 - present: Representative of Romania in 3WG COST Action E35 - UE
        - 2005 - present: Representative of Romania in MC COST Action E45-UE
        - 2005 - present: PhD coordinator for Engineering Sciences - Industrial Engineering
        - 2005-2008: Director of the Direction of The Durable Research - Development, Modelling,         Optimisation and Capitalization in Wood Industry
        - 2007 - present: Coordinator of the Romanian program CEEPUS-UE.

Foreign Languages: French and Italian.

        - Assist.prof.dr.eng. Wilhelm LAURENZI, graduate of the Wood Industry Faculty, class 1974.

Title of PhD thesis: "Contributions to the Modeling and Optimization of Wood Cutting by means of Circular Saws with a view to a Computer-Aided Cutting Process", defended in March 2000 at the "Transilvania" University of Brasov.

Publications in the field of the discipline:
        - LAURENZI, W. (2008). Simulation of the Centrifugal and Thermal Stresses in Circular Saw Blades.         Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov, Vol. 15 (49) - 2008.
        - LAURENZI, W. (2007). Wood Cutting Tools (electronic format).
        - LAURENZI, W. (2007). Establishing the Influence Factors on the Cutting Process with Circular Saw         Blades., Proceedings ICWSE-2007, pp. 263 - 268.

Foreign languages: German and English.

        - Assist.prof.dr.eng. Luminita-Maria BRENCI, graduate of the Faculty of Machine Technology Construction, class 1990.

Title of PhD thesis: "Contributions to the Study of the Construction and Exploitation of Profile Cutters for Wood Industry", defended in December 2004 at the "Transilvania" University of Brasov.

Specialization courses: Nine post-graduate courses in the field of programming and computer-aided design.

Foreign languages: English and Russian.

Perspectives and Opportunities:
        The discipline can bring valuable contributions to the development of the knowledge in wood industry and other connected fields, by promoting the inter- and trans-disciplinarity research, which will put the scientific and operational basis in administrating the indirect and direct complex relations between the "environment" components and those of the technical systems in wood industry field, in order to assure the right conditions to the durable development. The development of new processes and machining methods in the context of durable development through new engineering concepts that exploit the crossing of new technologies (nano-, bio-, cognitive), for a new generation of products and services with a high added value represents real perspectives of continuous improving of the discipline, creating in the same time opportunities of cooperation with specialists from universities, institutes and production, as Group SCM Italy, universities from Florence, Padova, Paris, Nancy, research institutes from Stockholm, Braunschweig, Trento etc., foreign parties with whom were concluded cooperation agreements coordinated by CCSPL, managed by prof.dr.eng. Loredana BADESCU.
        Fundamental research in the fields specific to wood industry and we refer to Wood Cutting, Basics of Wood Processing, Construction and Functioning of Cutting Tools, Devices and Jigs for Wood Industry are a sine qua non condition to improve the discipline.