Machines 2022, 10, 683. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10080683 www.mdpi.com/journal/machines Article Design and Mechanical Behavior of a Custom Adapter for Dimensional Stone Mining Zoltán Virág 1, * and Sándor Szirbik 2 1 Institute of Mining and Geotechnical Engineering, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary 2 Institute of Applied Mechanics, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary * Correspondence: gtbvir@uni-miskolc.hu Abstract: The paper deals with the development of a dimensional rock sawing machine to optimize the production of small-volume dimensional stone products in limestone quarries by re-thinking the use of production and transport equipment. A low-volume mining production and transporta- tion adapter to be developed for both production and transport can reduce the number of mining machines to be used in the mine. After cutting around the block stone, the rock material can be moved with the help of the machine. Cutting tests were performed to determine the winning prop- erties of the limestone. The first objective of the paper was to calculate the cutting forces and cutting powers and eliminate the failure possibilities and vibrations. In this study, the eigenvalue extraction used to calculate the natural frequencies and mode shapes was based on the Lanczos iteration meth- ods using the Abaqus software to identify any potentially dangerous frequencies. By taking the load cases from modelling of the extraction of limestone and the transport of block stones, the defor- mation and strength properties of the adapter were also examined using FE analysis for stress/dis- placement analysis. Drawing the conclusion from finite element analysis, the construction of the adapter can be developed and checked. The results can be used with great confidence, so the main dimensions of the concept serve as the basis for the dimensions of the adapter. Keywords: dimension limestone; chainsaw cutting; prototype adapter; mechanical analysis; sustainability 1. Introduction Limestone has been a popular building material for millennia. These stones were easy to mine and transport. The Celts and the Romans used this stone as well, but it be- came a popular building material from the 18th century. These structures are under the protection of monuments, so they can only be renovated with the original building mate- rial. There is worldwide growing demand for the natural stone industry. Related technol- ogies seek to find solutions to mining challenges. There are low production rates and high production costs. The economic costs and technological developments have led stone product companies to innovate new working methods and machinery, enabling increased cutting rates and lower production costs. Studies conducted efficiency analysis and ex- amined the block production and cutting performance of cutting machines in block pro- duction [1,2]. Optimizing the mining production of small-volume dimensional stone products is also a re-thinking of the use of production and transport equipment in one. The development of the mining machine was planned to reduce the expenses of running mining businesses, which include mining operations and costs of maintenance. Research and strategies to improve the mining cycle in stone exploitation and to reduce its impact have been reported. The paper [3] by Vagnon et al. reported that advances in the assess- ment of characteristics and environmental impacts of natural building stones are the Citation: Virág, Z.; Szirbik, S. Design and Mechanical Behavior of a Custom Adapter for Dimensional Stone Mining. Machines 2022, 10, 683. https://doi.org/10.3390/ machines10080683 Academic Editor: Kai Cheng Received: 13 July 2022 Accepted: 10 August 2022 Published: 11 August 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu- tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Li- censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con- ditions of the Creative Commons At- tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre- ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).