The Impact of Design Parameters of a Horizontal Wood Splitter on Splitting Force

The article deals with the influence of the shape of the splitting wedge on the size and course of splitting force. Today maximum effort is made to search for and use of energy saving solutions in every industry. Such solutions can include a change of the form of the longitudinal splitting wedge for splitting logs. The core of this problem is the experimental detection of powers, followed by analising the individual effects. For this purpose, an experimental device was designed. The base of equipment consists of a mobile horizontal splitter, which is well adapted to capture the process of splitting force in splitting logs. According to the results, the type of wood was the most influencal factor, followed by wood diameter and splitting wedge. When comparing the average values that were generated from repeated measurements, it is possible to follow the reduction of splitting force. The results showed that the splitting force was reduced by approximately 13 % when comparing splitting wedge No. 1 (simple) and No. 2 (refracted). When comparing splitting wedges No. 1 (simple) and No. 3 (concave), it can be observed that the splitting force was reduced by more than 50 %. The experiment also confirmed the effect of different anatomical structures of different species of wood on various physical and mechanical properties of such wood and hence also on the splitting force in splitting wood.