Laboratory Test Campaign Aimed at the Analysis of an Uncommon Wear Phenomenon in a Marble Quarry

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This study has important theoretical and practical value for marble machining. This paper is suitable to be published in this Jounal, after addressing the following few comments:

1. The introduction: The author perfectly introduces the research background of this paper, but there is not enough introduction of previous research on tool wear for marble cutting to prove the innovation of this paper.
2. The literature cited in this paper mainly focuses on the introduction of experimental conditions, which may need to delete some literature on the introduction of basic principles and increase the literature of relevant academic research. For instance, In section2.2. Vickers micro-hardness test，the following research including the application of micro-hardness test for metals is recommended. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110238.
3. The number of test repetitions needs to be specified, because in order to reduce the test error, the final experimental data is usually the average of the data obtained from several groups of repeated experiments.
4. the conclusion of “there is a critical moisture content (or a critical dosage of additives, related to 305 the water content), recognizable in this case between 4 and 9% that, once reached, allows 306 the additives to properly exert their anti-wear action” might not be proper. Because there is not enough test data or mechanism disclosure. So improve it.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your time. The answers to your comments are in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors! I have a number of questions for you:
1. Why outdated literature was used for the review.
2. Abstract is not informative.
3. In which graphic editor the drawings were made, the quality is unsatisfactory.
4. It is necessary to refer to the works of researchers from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe, China.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your time. The answers to your comments are in the attached file

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Accordingly to the tittle, I was expecting an interesting paper about tool wear. Tool wear for metal cutting is a subject investigated for many decades, however tool wear for stone cutting is relatively new. I was expecting an interesting article on tool wear. However, the article does not deal with tool wear. It is an article on marble wear testing. The article describes in detail some tests to characterize material properties, such as the microhardness test. Some standardized tests are performed to show the wear resistance of the material. There is no tool wear tests. In summary the article shows and discusses some marble wear tests. The results may be interesting to be presented at a congress, but there is no content to be published in the journal.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your time. The answers to your comments are in the attached file

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

I have no doubts about the authors' knowledge on the subject and the importance of understanding the problem of tool wear in marble cutting. I understand that the problem would be the wear of the tool used to cut the marble, as the title of the first version suggests. However, the article did not investigate tool wear, but the wear resistance of marble through laboratory tests. Does this solve the problem? Has the best tool been selected to cut the marble? I think not. The article shows that the material has a higher wear resistance than similar ones. It is well written and presented. I recommend to accept the article.