Dressing Mechanism and Evaluations of Grinding Performance with Porous cBN Grinding Wheels

Cubic boron nitride(cBN)grinding wheels play a pivotal role in precision machining,serving as indispensable tools for achieving exceptional surface quality.Ensuring the sharpness of cBN grains and optimizing the grinding wheel’s chip storage capacity are critical factors.This paper presents a study on the metal-bonded segments and single cBN grain samples using the vacuum sintering method.It investigates the impact of blasting parameters-specifically silicon carbide(SiC)abrasive size,blasting distance,and blasting time-on the erosive wear characteristics of both the metal bond and abrasive.The findings indicate that the abrasive size and blasting distance significantly affect the erosive wear performance of the metal bond.Following a comprehensive analysis of the material removal rate of the metal bond and the erosive wear condition of cBN grains,optimal parameters for the working layer are determined:a blasting distance of 60 mm,a blasting time of 15 s,and SiC particle size of 100#.Furthermore,an advanced simulation model investigates the dressing process of abrasive blasting,revealing that the metal bond effectively inhibits crack propagation within cBN abrasive grains,thereby enhancing fracture toughness and impact resistance.Additionally,a comparative analysis is conducted between the grinding performance of porous cBN grinding wheels and vitrified cBN grinding wheels.The results demonstrate that using porous cBN grinding wheels significantly reduces grinding force,temperature,and chip adhesion,thereby enhancing the surface quality of the workpiece.

On the Polygonal Wear Evolution of Heavy-Haul Locomotive Wheels due to Wheel/Rail Flexibility and Its Mitigation Measures

Wheel polygonal wear can immensely worsen wheel/rail interactions and vibration performances of the train and track,and ultimately,lead to the shortening of service life of railway components.At present,wheel/rail medium-or high-frequency frictional interactions are perceived as an essential reason of the high-order polygonal wear of railway wheels,which are potentially resulted by the flexible deformations of the train/track system or other external excitations.In this work,the effect of wheel/rail flexibility on polygonal wear evolution of heavy-haul locomotive wheels is explored with aid of the long-term wheel polygonal wear evolution simulations,in which different flexible modeling of the heavy-haul wheel/rail coupled system is implemented.Further,the mitigation measures for the polygonal wear of heavy-haul locomotive wheels are discussed.The results point out that the evolution of polygonal wear of heavy-haul locomotive wheels can be veritably simulated with consideration of the flexible effect of both wheelset and rails.Execution of mixed-line operation of heavy-haul trains and application of multicut wheel re-profiling can effectively reduce the development of wheel polygonal wear.This research can provide a deep-going understanding of polygonal wear evolution mechanism of heavy-haul locomotive wheels and its mitigation measures.

Numerical Prediction of Ride Comfort of Tracked Vehicle Equipped with Novel Flexible Road Wheels

Enhancing ride comfort has always constituted a crucial focus in the design and research of modern tracked vehicles,heavily reliant on the driving system's performance.While the road wheel is a key component of the driving system,traditional road wheels predominantly adopt a solid structure,exhibiting subpar adhesion performance and damping effects,thereby falling short of meeting the demands for high-speed,stable,and long-distance driving in tracked vehicles.Addressing this issue,this paper proposes a novel type of flexible road wheel(FRW)characterized by a catenary construction.The study investigates the ride comfort of tracked vehicles equipped with flexible road wheels by integrating finite element and vehicle dynamic.First,three-dimensional(3D)finite element(FE)models of both flexible and rigid road wheels are established,considering material and contact nonlinearities.These models are validated through a wheel radial loading test.Based on the validated FE model,the paper uncovers the relationship between load and radial deformation of the road wheel,forming the basis for a nonlinear mathematical model.Subsequently,a half-car model of a tracked vehicle with seven degrees of freedom is established using Newton's second law.A random road model,considering the track effect and employing white noise,is constructed.The study concludes by examining the ride comfort of tracked vehicles equipped with flexible and rigid road wheels under various speeds and road grades.The results demonstrate that,in comparison to the rigid road wheel(RRW),the flexible road wheel enhances the ride comfort of tracked vehicles on randomly uneven roads.This research provides a theoretical foundation for the implementation of flexible road wheels in tracked vehicles.

A strategy for out-of-roundness damage wheels identification in railway vehicles based on sparse autoencoders

Wayside monitoring is a promising cost-effective alternative to predict damage in the rolling stock. The main goal of this work is to present an unsupervised methodology to identify out-of-roundness(OOR) damage wheels, such as wheel flats and polygonal wheels. This automatic damage identification algorithm is based on the vertical acceleration evaluated on the rails using a virtual wayside monitoring system and involves the application of a two-step procedure. The first step aims to define a confidence boundary by using(healthy) measurements evaluated on the rail constituting a baseline. The second step of the procedure involves classifying damage of predefined scenarios with different levels of severities. The proposed procedure is based on a machine learning methodology and includes the following stages:(1) data collection,(2) damage-sensitive feature extraction from the acquired responses using a neural network model, i.e., the sparse autoencoder(SAE),(3) data fusion based on the Mahalanobis distance, and(4) unsupervised feature classification by implementing outlier and cluster analysis. This procedure considers baseline responses at different speeds and rail irregularities to train the SAE model. Then, the trained SAE is capable to reconstruct test responses(not trained) allowing to compute the accumulative difference between original and reconstructed signals. The results prove the efficiency of the proposed approach in identifying the two most common types of OOR in railway wheels.

Influence of railway wheel tread damage on wheel-rail impact loads and the durability of wheelsets

Dynamic wheel-rail contact forces induced by a severe form of wheel tread damage have been measured by a wheel impact load detector during full-scale field tests at different vehicle speeds.Based on laser scanning,the measured three-dimensional damage geometry is employed in simulations of dynamic vehicle-track interaction to calibrate and verify a simulation model.The relation between the magnitude of the impact load and various operational parameters,such as vehicle speed,lateral position of wheel-rail contact,track stiffness and position of impact within a sleeper bay,is investigated.The calibrated model is later employed in simulations featuring other forms of tread damage;their effects on impact load and subsequent fatigue impact on bearings,wheel webs and subsurface initiated rolling contact fatigue of the wheel tread are assessed.The results quantify the effects of wheel tread defects and are valuable in a shift towards condition-based maintenance of running gear,and for general assessment of the severity of different types of railway wheel tread damage.

Enhancement of motor functional recovery in thoracic spinal cord injury: voluntary wheel running versus forced treadmill exercise

Spinal cord injury necessitates effective rehabilitation strategies, with exercise therapies showing promise in promoting recovery. This study investigated the impact of rehabilitation exercise on functional recovery and morphological changes following thoracic contusive spinal cord injury. After a 7-day recovery period after spinal cord injury, mice were assigned to either a trained group(10 weeks of voluntary running wheel or forced treadmill exercise) or an untrained group. Bi-weekly assessments revealed that the exercise-trained group, particularly the voluntary wheel exercise subgroup, displayed significantly improved locomotor recovery, more plasticity of dopaminergic and serotonin modulation compared with the untrained group. Additionally, exercise interventions led to gait pattern restoration and enhanced transcranial magnetic motor-evoked potentials. Despite consistent injury areas across groups, exercise training promoted terminal innervation of descending axons. In summary, voluntary wheel exercise shows promise for enhancing outcomes after thoracic contusive spinal cord injury, emphasizing the role of exercise modality in promoting recovery and morphological changes in spinal cord injuries. Our findings will influence future strategies for rehabilitation exercises, restoring functional movement after spinal cord injury.

A Novel Model for Describing Rail Weld Irregularities and Predicting Wheel-Rail Forces Using a Machine Learning Approach

Rail weld irregularities are one of the primary excitation sources for vehicle-track interaction dynamics in modern high-speed railways.They can cause significant wheel-rail dynamic interactions,leading to wheel-rail noise,component damage,and deterioration.Few researchers have employed the vehicle-track interaction dynamic model to study the dynamic interactions between wheel and rail induced by rail weld geometry irregularities.However,the cosine wave model used to simulate rail weld irregularities mainly focuses on the maximum value and neglects the geometric shape.In this study,novel theoretical models were developed for three categories of rail weld irregularities,based on measurements of the high-speed railway from Beijing to Shanghai.The vertical dynamic forces in the time and frequency domains were compared under different running speeds.These forces generated by the rail weld irregularities that were measured and modeled,respectively,were compared to validate the accuracy of the proposed model.Finally,based on the numerical study,the impact force due to rail weld irrregularity is modeled using an Artificial Neural Network(ANN),and the optimum combination of parameters for this model is found.The results showed that the proposed model provided a more accurate wheel/rail dynamic evaluation caused by rail weld irregularities than that established in the literature.The ANN model used in this paper can effectively predict the impact force due to rail weld irrregularity while reducing the computation time.

PERFORMANCE OF BRAZED DIAMOND CUP-TYPE WHEELS WITH DEFINED GRAIN PATTERN IN GRINDING CEMENTED CARBIDE

A new cup-type grinding wheel of the brazed monolayer diamond is developed with a defined grain pattern on the wheel surface. Grinding performance of the brazed wheel in the surface grinding of cemented carbide is studied. Experimental results show that when continuous dry grinding is employed, grits of the brazed diamond grinding wheel fail mainly in attritious wear and fracture modes and no pull-out ones are found in conventional electroplated and sintered diamond wheels. It indicates the strong retention of brazing alloy to diamond grits and the longer service life of the wheel. In addition, the ground surface has good roughness. The theoretical surface roughness agrees well with experimental results.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of A356 aluminum alloy wheels prepared by thixo-forging combined with a low superheat casting process

The A356 aluminum alloy wheels were prepared by thixo-forging combined with a low superheat casting process. The as-cast microstructure, microstructure evolution during reheating and the mechanical properties of the thixo-forged A356 aluminum alloy wheels were investigated. The results show that the A356 aluminum alloy billet with fine, uniform and non-dendritic grains can be obtained when the melt is cast at 635 ℃. When the billet is reheated at 600 ℃ for 60 min, the non-dendritic grains are changed into spherical ones and the billet can be easily thixo-forged into wheels. The tensile strength and elongation of thixo-forged wheels with T6 heat treatment are 327.6 MPa and 7.8%, respectively, which are higher than those of a cast wheel. It is suggested that the thixo-forging combined with the low superheat casting process is an effective technique to produce aluminum alloy wheels with high mechanical properties.

DRY GRINDING OF Ti6Al4V ALLOY WITH FLAP WHEELS

The grindability of alloy Ti6AI4V with zireonia alumina and silicon carbide flap wheels, and the effect of process parameters on grinding forces, grinding temperature and surface integrity are studied. The grinding forces are measured by KISTLER 9265B dynamometer. The grinding temperature response is obtained by NI USB-621X signal collection system. Ground surface morphology and the metallographic structure are observed by the Hirox KN-7700 stereoscopic microcope and the Quanta200 scanning electron microscope （SEM）. Surface roughnesses are measured by Mahr Perthometer M1 instrument. The surface microhardnesses are detected by HXS-1000 microhardness tester.

Monitoring Longitudinal Vehicular Velocity by Using Driving Wheels Information

In order to enhance the accuracy and overcome the limitation of representing the vehicular velocity with non driving wheel speed signals, which is commonly used in researching on automotive dynamic control systems at present, the dynamic and kinematics models of running vehicles and wheels are established. The concept that expresses vehicle velocity using only the driving wheel speed information with adjustable weight factors is described and an algorithm is proposed. A Matlab program with the algorithm embedded is made to simulate the vehicle’s accelerating under different road conditions, and it’s simulation results coincide well with the experimental results, which demonstrates the validity of the algorithm.

Bias Momentum Attitude Control System Using Energy/Momentum Wheels

The integrated power and attitude control for a bias momentum attitudecontrol system is investigated. A pair of counter-spinning wheels is used to provide the biasangular momentum and store/ discharge energy for power requirement of the devices on the spacecraft.The roll/yaw motion is controlled by pitch magnetic dipole moment. The torque-based control law ofthe wheels is designed, so that the desired pitch control torque is provided and the operation ofcharging/discharging energy is carried out based on the given power. System singularity in thecontrol law of wheels is fully avoided by keeping the wheels counter-spinning. A power managementscheme using kinetic energy feedback is proposed to keep energy balance, which can avoid wheelsaturation caused by superfluous energy. The minimum moment of inertia of the wheels is limited bythe maximum bias angular momentum and the minimum energy, such constrains are analyzed incombination with the geometrical method. Numerical simulation results are presented to demonstratethe effectiveness of the control scheme.

New extrusion process of Mg alloy automobile wheels

The recent research and development of forged magnesium road wheel were reviewed.Methods of flow-forming,spin forging of manufacturing a forged magnesium alloy wheel were introduced.A new extrusion method was investigated especially. Extrusion from hollow billet was proposed in order to enhance the strength of spoke portion and reduce the maximum forming load. By means of the developed technique,the one-piece Mg wheels were produced successfully by extrusion from AZ80+alloy.At the same time,the existing problems on the research and development of forged magnesium road wheel were analyzed.The impact testing,radial fatigue testing and bending fatigue testing results show that AZ80+wheel can meet application requirement in automobile industry.

Analysis of steering performance of differential coupling wheelset

In order to improve the curving performance of the conventional wheelset in sharp curves and resolve the steering ability problem of the independently rotating wheel in large radius curves and tangent lines, a differential cou- pling wheelset （DCW） was developed in this work. The DCW was composed of two independently rotating wheels （IRWs） coupled by a clutch-type limited slip differential. The differential contains a static pre-stress clutch, which could lock both sides of IRWs of the DCW to ensure a good steering performance in curves with large radius and tangent track. In contrast, the clutch could unlock the two IRWs of the DCW in a sharp curve to endue it with the characteristic of an IRW, so that the vehicles can go through the tight curve smoothly. To study the dynamic performance of the DCW, a multi-body dynamic model of single bogie with DCWs was established. The self-centering capability, hunting stability, and self-steering performance on a curved track were analyzed and then compared with those of the conventional wheelset and IRW. Finally, the effect of coupling parameters of the DCW on the dynamic performance was investigated.

Fabrication of micro gear wheels by micropowder injection molding

The micropowder injection molding technology was investigated to fabricate the microsized gear wheels on a conventional injection molding machine. The feedstock comprised of carbonyl ferrum powder and a wax-based thermoplastic binder. Microinjection molding was fulfilled at about 423 K under 100 MPa. The heating system was applied to the die to improve the fluidity of the feedstock and subsequently the cooling system was used to enhance the strength of the green compacts after injection by decreasing the temperature of the die. The gear wheels were realized successfully with their addendum circle diameter ranging from 800 to 200 um and with the center hole as small as 60 um.

Signed Roman (Total) Domination Numbers of Complete Bipartite Graphs and Wheels

A signed(res. signed total) Roman dominating function, SRDF(res.STRDF) for short, of a graph G =(V, E) is a function f : V → {-1, 1, 2} satisfying the conditions that(i)∑v∈N[v]f(v) ≥ 1(res.∑v∈N(v)f(v) ≥ 1) for any v ∈ V, where N [v] is the closed neighborhood and N(v) is the neighborhood of v, and(ii) every vertex v for which f(v) =-1 is adjacent to a vertex u for which f(u) = 2. The weight of a SRDF(res. STRDF) is the sum of its function values over all vertices.The signed(res. signed total) Roman domination number of G is the minimum weight among all signed(res. signed total) Roman dominating functions of G. In this paper,we compute the exact values of the signed(res. signed total) Roman domination numbers of complete bipartite graphs and wheels.

Precision Grinding of Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide Using Coarse Grain Size Diamond Wheels

Reaction bonded SiC（RBSiC） is attractive for optical application because of its favorable properties and low fabrication cost. However, the difficultness and cost involved in RBSiC grinding limit its application. The investigation on high efficient and low-cost machining with good grinding quality is desired. Generally, high efficient machining for RBSiC is realized by using coarse grain size grinding wheels, but serious grinding damage is inevitable. In this paper, monolayer nickel electroplated coarse grain size diamond grinding wheels with grain sizes of 46 μm, 91 μm, and 151 μm were applied to the grinding of RBSiC. An electrolytic in-process dressing（ELID） assisted conditioning technique was first developed by using cup shape copper bonded conditioning wheels with grain sizes of 15 μm and 91 μm to generate the conditioned coarse grain size wheels with minimized wheel run-out error within 2 μm, constant wheel peripheral envelop as well as top-flattened diamond grains. Then, the grinding experiments on RBSiC were carried out to investigate the grinding performance and material removal mechanism. The experimental results indicate that the developed conditioning technique is applicable and feasible to condition the coarse grain size diamond wheels under optimal conditioning parameters, and the material removal mechanism involved in RBSiC grinding is the combination of brittle fracture and ductile deformation to generate smooth ground surface. This research is significant for the high efficient and low-cost precision grinding of RBSiC with good ground surface quality.

Polygonisation of railway wheels:a critical review

Polygonisation is a common nonuniform wear phenomenon occurring in railway vehicle wheels and has a severe impact on the vehicle–track system,ride comfort,and lineside residents.This paper first summarizes periodic defects of the wheels,including wheel polygonisation and wheel corrugation,occurring in railways worldwide.Thereafter,the effects of wheel polygonisation on the wheel–rail interaction,noise and vibration,and fatigue failure of the vehicle and track components are reviewed.Based on the different causes,the formation mechanisms of periodic wheel defects are classified into three categories:(1)initial defects of wheels,(2)natural vibration of the vehicle–track system,and(3)thermoelastic instability.In addition,the simulation methods of wheel polygonisation evolution and countermeasures to mitigate wheel polygonisation are presented.Emphasis is given to the characteristics,effects,causes,and solutions of wheel polygonisation in metro vehicles,locomotives,and highspeed trains in China.Finally,the guidance is provided on further understanding the formation mechanisms,monitoring technology,and maintenance criterion of wheel polygonisation.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of railway wheels manufactured with low-medium carbon Si-Mn-Mo-V steel

The suitability of carbide-free bainite steel as railway wheel materials was investigated. The low-medium carbon Si-Mn- Mo-V steel was designed to make railway wheels by forging and rolling. The slack quenching with water was conducted on the tread of rim section by programmed control to simulate isothermal heat treatment after being austenitized. Microstructures and mechanical properties have been studied. The results indicate that the microstructure of the rim is mainly carbide-free bainite, and the mixed microstructure of bainitic ferrite and granular bainite is observed in web and hub. The mechanical properties are superior to both the standard requirements and the commercial production, such as CL60 plain carbon. The Charpy impact energy is relatively high at room and/or subzero temperatures. The force-displacement curves and fractographies reveal the excellent ability of resistance to crack initiation and propagation.

Three-dimensional Construction and Omni-directional Rolling Analysis of a Novel Frame-like Lattice Modular Robot

Lattice modular robots possess diversity actuation methods, such as electric telescopic rod, gear rack, magnet, robot arm, etc. The researches on lattice modular robots mainly focus on their hardware descriptions and reconfiguration algorithms. Meanwhile, their design architectures and actuation methods perform slow telescopic and moving speeds, relative low actuation force verse weight ratio, and without internal space to carry objects. To improve the mechanical performance and reveal the locomotion and reconfiguration binary essences of the lattice modular robots, a novel cube-shaped, frame-like, pneumatic-based reconfigurable robot module called pneumatic expandable cube（PE-Cube） is proposed. The three-dimensional（3D） expanding construction and omni-directional rolling analysis of the constructed robots are the main focuses. The PE-Cube with three degrees of freedom（Do Fs） is assembled by replacing the twelve edges of a cube with pneumatic cylinders. The proposed symmetric construction condition makes the constructed robots possess the same properties in each supporting state, and a binary control strategy cooperated with binary actuator（pneumatic cylinder） is directly adopted to control the PE-Cube. Taking an eight PE-Cube modules＇ construction as example, its dynamic rolling simulation, static rolling condition, and turning gait are illustrated and discussed. To testify telescopic synchronization, respond speed, locomotion feasibility, and repeatability and reliability of hardware system, an experimental pneumatic-based robotic system is built and the rolling and turning experiments of the eight PE-Cube modules＇ construction are carried out. As an extension, the locomotion feasibility of a thirty-two PE-Cube modules＇ construction is analyzed and proved, including dynamic rolling simulation, static rolling condition, and dynamic analysis in free tipping process. The proposed PE-Cube module, construction method, and locomotion analysis enrich the family of the lattice modular robot and provide the instruction to design the lattice modular robot.