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Cutting, by ‘pressing and slicing,’ of thin floppy slices of materials illustrated by experiments on cheddar cheese and salami

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Abstract

Why it is easier to cut with even the sharpest knife when ‘pressing down and sliding’ than when merely ‘pressing down alone’ is explained. A variety of cases of cutting where the blade and workpiece have different relative motions is analysed and it is shown that the greater the ‘slice/push ratio’ ξ given by (blade speed parallel to the cutting edge/blade speed perpendicular to the cutting edge), the lower the cutting forces. However, friction limits the reductions attainable at the highest ξ. The analysis is applied to the geometry of a wheel cutting device (delicatessan slicer) and experiments with a cheddar cheese and a salami using such an instrumented device confirm the general predictions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Construction Management and Engineering, Engineering Bldg, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AY, UK

    A. G. Atkins, X. Xu & G. Jeronimidis

Authors
  1. A. G. Atkins
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  2. X. Xu
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  3. G. Jeronimidis
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Correspondence to A. G. Atkins.

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Atkins, A.G., Xu, X. & Jeronimidis, G. Cutting, by ‘pressing and slicing,’ of thin floppy slices of materials illustrated by experiments on cheddar cheese and salami. Journal of Materials Science 39, 2761–2766 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JMSC.0000021451.17182.86

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JMSC.0000021451.17182.86

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