Evaluation of Cuttability of Selected Rocks in South-Western Nigeria

This paper examines cuttability of selected rocks in south-western (S/W) Nigeria. Rock samples from this region were tested for rebound hardness value, uniaxal compressive strength, and silica content using Schmidt hammer, 1100KN compression machine and X-Ray fluorescence spectrometer, respectively. These properties were correlated with the cutting rate of the rock samples. The regression carried out gives values of R2 = 0.863, R2 = 0.861 and R2 = 0.860 for cutting rate and rebound hardness value, uniaxal compressive strength and silica content, respectively. This shows that there is a strong linear relationship between the cutting rate and the three rock properties investigated. The model equations from this regression could be used to estimate the cuttability of granite and limestone from this zone