Laboratory rock cutting tests are commonly used for the study of the cutting process and the evaluation of the expected performance of excavation machines. The cutting process is dominated by a great number of parameters, most of them relating with the intrinsic mechanical characteristics of the rock. In this study the open software Yade is used for simulating laboratory cutting tests on sandstone samples using a drag pick as the cutting tool. The process is simulated based on a conventional formulation, combined with an enhancement of the sample microstructure through the manipulation of the interaction range coefficient, which provides for the sample a very realistic initial strength ratio UCS/UTS. On cylindrical samples, four different cuts in four different paths were carried out. The mean cutting force for each cut was calculated and was chosen to represent the macroscopic response of the numerical model. The optimum set of microparameters is obtained through an experimental design with the Placket-Burman and Central Composite Design methods, and then optimized, in regard to the microparameters’ values, so that the rock cutting simulation is in close accordance with the observations from the actual laboratory cutting tests.
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