Vibration analysis of rail grinding using a twin-wheel grinder

Grinding is the final process of machining a rail. Conventionally, the rail’s surfaces are ground by a single-wheel grinder. The vibrations caused by the grinding process can greatly influence the final surface roughness and dimensional accuracy of the rail. This research investigates performance achieved by using two grinding wheels simultaneously and symmetrically on two opposite surfaces of a rail. In practical terms, the feed force from the two grinding wheels cannot be aligned perfectly, and the imbalance and/or imperfect roundness of the grinding wheels will certainly result in vibrations during the grinding process. This study applies an impedance method to determine rail vibration and the grinding instability, such as chatter caused by feed force misalignment and grinding wheel imbalance. When compared to conventional single-wheel grinding, the results indicate twin-wheel grinding reduces rail vibration, leading to low incidence of grinding chatter and better grinding performance. However, feed force misalignment between the two grinding wheels can lead to increased chatter, and both resonance and chatter may occur at lower grinding speeds as feed force misalignment increases. Results also show that feed force misalignment has a greater effect on rail vibration and chatter than imbalance asynchronization between the two grinding wheels.