Tool used break up concrete

This is due to the fewer parts in a demolition hammer, and sometimes a longer piston stroke, as well. While the demolition hammer delivers fewer blows per minute than a rotary hammer, the increased strength of the tool actually makes it a quicker and more efficient means of demolishing concrete and masonry.

Wire saws were first developed in the stone quarry industry, and diamond wire saws have been used in concrete demolishing work to cut reinforced concrete since the early s. A loop of diamond wire mounted on a flywheel driven by a hydraulic or electric motor.

Hydraulic drives powered by electric, gasoline, or diesel units are usually preferred on wire saws when cutting reinforced concrete, since they are both reversible and provide continuously variable speed. Water is applied to the cut to provide cooling and to flush the cut. Diamond wire saws are more efficient than circular saws, able to cut concrete of almost any thickness. This makes them very useful for the kind of heavy demolition found in bridges, damns and thick concrete structures.

In addition, they create little dust, noise and vibration, making them ideal for demolition work within inhabited structures. The real force behind the diamond wire saw is the diamond wire itself a steel carrier cable threaded through steel beads to which diamond is bonded.

There are three basic wire types:. There are also two main bonding systems for the diamond beads: electroplated and impregnated. Electroplating the wire involves attaching a single layer of diamond to the steel bead. The impregnated bonding system is more similar to the impregnated systems on a circular saw in which a powder metal alloy is blended with diamond, then pressed and sintered to the steel band, providing multiple layers of diamond for cutting.

Hydraulic concrete crushers are used to demolish concrete methodically and efficiently. Also called smashers, densifiers, processors, secondary crushers, and pulverizers, concrete crushers are used to reduce concrete into smaller easily manageable or recyclable pieces, as well as to separate steel reinforcement from concrete. Interchangeable jaws in some crushers, including cracking jaws, shear jaws and pulverizing jaws, are often used to work along with various types and configurations of jaw teeth in order to better fit the crusher to a particular job.

Secondary concrete crushers usually have some type of pulverizing jaws and are used on jobs where primary demolition is accomplished by hammers, crushers, blasting, ball and crane, or sawing. In this instance, the primary demolition work creates large quantities of concrete rubble which the secondary crusher further reduces, separating concrete from reinforcement. Hydraulic splitters apply lateral forces against the inside of holes drilled into concrete in order to break up concrete with a minimum of noise and flying debris.

About the size of a jackhammer, the tool utilizes a shaft known as a plug-and-feather assembly which, when inserted into a drilled hole and forced downward by the tools piston, creates the lateral forces that break the concrete. No heavy impact is utilized to form the crack, which spreads quickly and without any noise between the pre-drilled holes until the concrete is split into manageable pieces.

The typical hydraulic splitter exerts a force between about and tons, depending on make and model. As with most pieces of equipment of this type, the smaller models with a force capacity on the lower end of the scale are used for more lightweight work, or where the equipment must be able to be handled more easily, such as in horizontal or overhead work.

Larger capacity models are capable of splitting mass concrete and hard rock. Hydraulic splitters may be available in gas- and electrically-powered models, but most contractors prefer air-powered hydraulic pumps, as the tools air-compressor can also be used to power the drills used to form the holes in the concrete. Multiple hydraulic splitters can be set up to run side-by-side off the same hydraulic pump, allowing for a greater combined splitting force, helpful when breaking up particularly thick or dense concrete.

To correctly operate a splitter, the holes must be drilled straight into the concrete at the exact diameter specified for the splitter, and be deep enough to accommodate the plug when fully extended.

The plug and feathers have to be kept well lubricated in order to remain in working condition. Hand-held pavement breakers may be thought of as a kind of heavy-duty version of the chipping hammer. The difference is that pavement breakers are heavier, more powerful tools that are usually operated perpendicular to the ground. Because of this, a T-shaped handle is the most common design for pavement breakers. A few lightweight breakers are designed with a D-shaped handle that allows the operator to pick the breaker up and operate it horizontally.

Like chipping hammers, pavement breakers are powered hydraulically, electrically, or pneumatically. The pounding action of breakers is usually slightly slower than that of chipping hammers, ranging from blows per minute to close to 2, blows per minute. Pavement breakers weigh from 30 to 99 pounds. That means you want to buy or rent or borrow an electric or pneumatic jackhammer. Electric and pneumatic jackhammers both break up the concrete using a high-power and fast moving pointed chisel into the concrete, so deciding on one is simply a matter of availability, price, and preference.

Just make sure you are strong and agile enough to control and move with the jackhammer. You may need to remove concrete that is not simply a flat slab. Or, you may want to have more control than is possible with a sledge hammer or jackhammer. In that case, you want to rent or buy a chipping hammer. Chipping hammers are built light and handheld so they offer the most control for tight spaces, strange corners, and spots near windows. Now, what do you do with all those chunks?

Knowing how to dispose of all that concrete is a big part of the job; a 12 x ft. First task: call your local waste facility and ask about their policies on throwing away concrete. Some facilities will have separate, cheaper drop-offs for building materials like concrete. You may need to rent a truck or a trailer to transport and dump what is left of your demolition efforts.

Toggle navigation. By analyzing the job and having a plan in place, you can save time, effort and money. Rotary hammers, demolition hammers and combination hammers are all smaller, handheld tools that can be used on vertical and horizontal concrete. Note that hammer drills are different than these hammers that are made to break concrete. Hammer drills do not have a chiseling function and can be used to drill into a variety of materials.

Rotary hammers use an electro-pneumatic hammer piston to generate high impact energy, which allows it to drill or demolish concrete. For increased demolition or bigger holes through tougher concrete, combination hammers use larger, harder-hitting electro-pneumatics to generate impact. For bigger jobs, hydraulic breakers are attachments that go on skid steers, compact utility loaders, backhoes, mini excavators, and excavators.

When operated properly and correctly sized for the job, breakers efficiently and effectively break up concrete and shatter rock. Hydraulic breakers are suitable for a number of applications. To learn more about hydraulic breakers and their many uses for breaking up concrete and shattering rock, call FRD USA at When operated properly, breakers efficiently and effectively break up concrete and shatter rock.

If not operated properly or not sized correctly for the job, the attachment can fail unexpectedly and waste precious time on a job site, or even suffer a reduced lifespan.