What is Core Cutting? its 4 Applications, & Advantages

Core cutting is a technique used for creating openings for pipes, wires, ventilating or air conditioning vents to fit through, and to avoid going through reinforcement core cutting must be carefully planned.

In areas with redundant and non-critical stress on concrete and steel cores should preferably be taken and to avoid stressed areas core-cutting should be properly planned.

When there is a need to do a core cut then first locate the rebar using a metal detector and mark the position of the rebar on the concrete surface and ensure the main reinforcement bars are not cut to do a core cut by adjusting the location.

The reinforcement is never touched whatever may be the reason for core cutting and core-cutting is usually used to;

1. Creating a hole for installing ducts such as for A.Cs, and pipes, etc.
2. In old structures or bridges, it is used for samples for strength testing.

For various civil works, core-cutting is about making precise, circular cuts for creating holes of required diameters, and at the drilling end, the core drilling rod is fitted with diamond pieces. For both horizontal and vertical hole-making purposes, the core-cutting machine can be used.

Core-Cutting Machine:

There are the following parts of this machine such as;

1. Jackscrew
2. Column
3. Water Valve
4. Electrical Motor
5. Gear Box
6. Spindle &
7. Stand

The Applications:

There are the following applications of core-cutting such as;

1. Core cutting is done to make provisional holes for the purposes of electrical wiring, plumbing, firefighting systems, rainwater outlets, heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation installations.
2. On brick walls, RCC walls, black stones, slabs, beams, columns, water tanks, etc core-cutting can be done.
3. Through RCC Diamond Core-Cutting, applications like industrial floor cutting, concrete testing, and readymade houses are also made possible.
4. To make holes of 2 to 12-inch diameters and up to 2 meters of depth, the core-cutting method can be used.

Diamond Edge Core Cutting:

1. The diamond cutting system ensures faster operations and requires fewer attempts.
2. Rebar and metal cutting are possible in the diamond-edge core cutting method and also pre-outage work is possible with this method.
3. The diamond-edge core cutting method requires only minimal patchwork because it is precise and within the Dimensional tolerance limits.
4. As the process is free of vibrations and allows a higher amount of concrete removal during cutting and structural integrity is maintained to a higher level.
5. To the surroundings, diamond cutting is relatively quiet and non-disruptive.
6. In the Diamond Core Cutting process, concrete leaves no dust particles or residues because the concrete is cut to size.
7. The equipment in Diamond-edge RCC core-cutting is manoeuvrable and flexible enough to be used in remote cutting and closed space areas.

Advantages of Core Cutting:

There are the following advantages of this method such as;

1. To drill holes in concrete, core-cutting is a fast, accurate, and clean way.
2. It requires much fewer labour hours which in turn leads to significantly lower operating costs and it is much faster and more efficient.
3. In creating precise holes and cuttings with minimal or non-existent damage to the surroundings it is extremely effective.
4. It eliminates dust and reduces the amount of waste.
5. This process does not transfer the vibrations to the nearby structures and keeps them safe and during the drilling operations, it structurally sounds.

Disadvantages of Core Cutting:

There are also some disadvantages of core cutting as given below;

1. By taking cores to leave weak points within the element and by standard or high strength patch repair materials the location of cores is normally repaired.
2. If the coring damages the existing rebar it can damage the structural performance of the element.
3. Core drilling machinery will have a very strong kickback and you have to be ready and strong for this.
4. If you need large drill bits, the machinery can be very expensive.