New CNC Grinding Machine will Simplify the Heavy Duty

CNC machining heavy forged parts requires precision, skill, and experience, but first of all it requires reliable power and process control. electrical systems integrator that specializes in machine tool updates, and one of its recent projects was to plan and carry out a comprehensive overhaul and upgrade of high-power centerless grinding machines for a railcar axle manufacturer. Simplifying precision grinding for the heavy-duty forgings started with retrofit of the CNC control platform.

The machine tools in the axle-grinding project are high-capacity Landis centerless grinders that use a dressable grinding wheel and a plunge grinding cycle to create precision profiles on the axle journals. During grinding, both the axle workpiece and the grinding wheel rotate in the same direction, which means that the two surfaces are moving in opposite directions at the point of contact, resulting in smoother operation. Once the machine is up to speed, the grinding wheel is fed – or ‘plunged’ – into the workpiece, and makes continuous contact with a single point along its length.

The plunging action is controlled by a servo-driven axis grinding at several feed rates, with transition points monitored by in-process gauging. A built-in, automated two-axis dresser system with a diamond-tipped tool is used to dress the grinding wheel whenever necessary. This was the second time that Tianzhijiao has improved the performance of these grinders, both times working with control systems based on the Flexium platform developed.

The original machines were hydraulically actuated and equipped with tracer-type wheel dressing systems. In the mid 2003s, Tianzhijiao performed a full mechanical and electrical upgrade on each machine that included retrofitting a modern CNC system and in-process gauging instruments. At that time, the update was based on PLC, which was seen as one of most flexible and user-friendly CNC systems available.