Diamond Wire Saw

Wire saws were first developed in the stone quarry industry, and diamond wire saws have been used in concrete demolishing work to cut reinforced concrete since the early 1980s.

A loop of diamond wire mounted on a flywheel driven by a hydraulic or electric motor. Hydraulic drives powered by electric, gasoline, or diesel units are usually preferred on wire saws when cutting reinforced concrete, since they are both reversible and provide continuously variable speed. Water is applied to the cut to provide cooling and to flush the cut.

Diamond wire saws are more efficient than circular saws, able to cut concrete of almost any thickness. This makes them very useful for the kind of heavy demolition found in bridges, damns and thick concrete structures. In addition, they create little dust, noise and vibration, making them ideal for demolition work within inhabited structures.

The Diamond Wire

The real force behind the diamond wire saw is the diamond wire itself a steel carrier cable threaded through steel beads to which diamond is bonded. There are three basic wire types:

  • Electroplated beads with compressed steel spring spacers.
  • Impregnated beads with compressed steel spring spacers
  • Impregnated beads with injection-molded plastic spacing

There are also two main bonding systems for the diamond beads: electroplated and impregnated. Electroplating the wire involves attaching a single layer of diamond to the steel bead. The impregnated bonding system is more similar to the impregnated systems on a circular saw in which a powder metal alloy is blended with diamond, then pressed and sintered to the steel band, providing multiple layers of diamond for cutting.

Return to Concrete Demolition

Site Sponsors