Formulation & Development of Advanced High Corrosion & Wear Resistant Material & Manufacturing Technique for Tobacco Shredding Machine Knives & Wear Parts

Tobacco cutting machine knives (MK) are circular disk or conventional rectangular shape,
MK & ancillaries are modular construction for ease of maintenance. The
abrasiveness/corrosiveness of tobacco decreases knife sharpness, causing irregularities in
quality of cut tobacco & machine blockages. MK & ancillaries have to be regularly replaced
with reconditioned/new parts causing machine down times & fewer cigarettes being produced.
Conventional tobacco cutting MK & wear parts are manufactured from tool steel, stainless &
mild steel. The cutting knife & ancillary parts tool life are short, lasting from a little as 4 hrs
to a maximum of 48 hrs depending on type of tobacco.
The study involves exploration of the tobacco cutting machine market investigating the
manufacture of MK & ancillaries. The company hope to develop a unique powder met based
material, specifically formulated to resist corrosion/wear of cutting tobacco. This unique
powder met material will be used in conjunction with a unique manufacturing method. The
project aims to evaluate whether formulation of a new tobacco resistant powder met material
& new proposed method of production would provide tooling with advanced wear properties
whilst enabling reduced overall manufacturing costs.