Rail grinding is now widely adopted in the rail industry as a means to maintain and renew track through damage removal and profile restoration. Conventional applications of rail grinding employ vitreous aluminium oxide grinding stone at reduced wheel speeds, feed rates and inherently, material removal rates. In an answer to the industrial driving force to increase the material removal rate without detriment to the rail surface, the use of superabrasive tooling has been proposed. To exploit its benefits of improved productivity and rail workpiece quality, superabrasive grinding must be performed using the high speed grinding (HSG) approach. However, further information is required about the thermal influence of this novel tooling application on the rail.
In this EngD research, grinding trials were performed using grinding tools suited for various grinding orientations including superabrasive and conventional grinding wheels. In addition, different temperature measurement approaches were applied during the grinding trials to ascertain and map out the temperatures induced at various depths from the surface of the rail during a grinding pass. Results show that the forces induced during the grinding action generate grinding temperatures which can be measured by the selected methods of temperature measurement.
To understand the magnitude of grinding temperatures which can be measured in the field and provide possible information regarding the range of temperatures induced on the rail during the process, temperature observations were also conducted in field settings on multiple in-service tracks during their respective grinding campaigns. Methods have been recommended for the implementation of temperature measurement in field situations.
Finally, a dedicated grinding trolley has been introduced as a vehicle for use to trial the superabrasive tooling against conventional wheels for use on actual rail. In addition to its capability for grinding facets on the rail, this machine presents the potential for use in areas where a grinding train cannot be used.
