Wood chipping with conical helical blades – Practical experiments concerning the impact of the infeed angle on the power requirement of a helical chipper

Experiments made with a model helical chipper have shown that the infeed angle has a huge impact on chip quality parameters. Furthermore, it could be pointed out that the self feeding mechanism of the helical chipper was impeded with larger infeed angles and finally failed. This situation led to the hypothesis that the infeed angle must have an impact on power requirement during chipping. In the present investigation this conclusion was tested. Standardized preformed test rods were chipped with a helical chipper at seven different infeed angles while torque, rotational speed and chipping time were recorded. The experimentation was done using poplar wood with different moisture content. Based on the measurements power requirement and energy consumed was calculated for each test series. The results of the experiments show that power requirement and energy consumed are decreasing with increasing infeed angle. The results seem to be extraordinary since increasing infeed angles lead to decreasing chip sizes being produced. Based on theoretical deliberations and experimental data it can be assumed that besides the anisotropic character of wood geometrical settings of helical chipping could be a reason for the experimental findings. But, because the chipping time is also dependent on the infeed angle there still must be other reasons concerning the occurring forces during helical chipping, too. For this reason there is a need to have a closer look onto the different forces occurring during helical chipping. Against this background the Discrete Element Method (DEM) could be a simulation method for future research.