Tangential rail grinding technology
A couple of tangential grinding stones are positioned along the rail and are converging and set to the desired degree of inclination for the targeted grinding. Because of this configuration, the grinding stones hold their wear profile unchanged regardless the wear profile of the rail and the areas to be resurfaced are grinded diagonally across the rail. Basically, the wear of stone/rail material continuously regenerate the radius of the stone profile for which the grinding module has been set up.
Conventional rail grinding equipment uses a set of cup grinding stones, which work through the flat side of the tool then giving rise to a number of “facets” on the head of the rail. In this case a circular profile is obtained in “multi-facets” mode with the risk of inducing atypical wear on the rolling surface of the rail and on the wheels due to the crushing of the cusps formed at the intersection of two adjacent facets.
The grinding technology developed and patented by MECNO SERVICE uses tangential grinding stones which are positioned along the rail and are converging and inclined on the head of the rail. In this way the reprofiling process is carried out in “circular sectors” without leaving cusps on the rolling surface of the rail, so avoiding the survey of both width and number of the facets as requested by the acceptance criteria of the rail reprofiling operation set out in the art. 8 of European Standard EN 13231-3.
Whereas the traditional “multi-facets” mode “delivers” a rail with a polygonal profile, leaving to the wheel rolling surface the task to radius the facet cusps, the “tangential technology” adopted and patented by MECNO SERVICE, directly “delivers” a rail profile which meets the Standards with high accuracy and great benefit to wheel-rail contact patch. Performing the transverse profile of the rail through “radius” instead of “facets”, enables the technology developed by MECNO SERVICE, to use a number of tangential stones which is significantly lower compared to the one which is needed for the cup stones.