Why must tires and rollers be reconditioned?

Because when tires and rollers are not

smooth they are not making even contact with each other. Wear patterns develop
accelerating wear, increasing cost of operation and eventually causing component
failure.
THERMAL EXPANSION
To fully appreciate what is involved, the way thermal expansion is accommodated on
this very large piece of mechanical equipment must be understood. Because its
operating temperature may be considerable, careful planning for handling thermal
expansion is necessary.
ROLLER ADJUSTMENT & SKEW
But thermal expansion is only one factor which needs to be considered. Improper roller
adjustment and skewing also cause wear to rollers and tires, and may hasten the need
for reconditioning.

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Once wear patterns are established wear will spiral out of control. The more severe the
running profile, the higher the unit contact pressure between the surfaces, the less
thrust control exists. This often requires more skewing which causes yet more wear
and so on.

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 Grinding/Reconditioning Rollers & Tires
during normal unit operation restores tires & rollers
true cylindrical surfaces.

FREQUENCY
5 - 15 years

The obvious
Tire and Rollersolution is to restore
Reconditioning the rolling surfaces to their original
- Grinding flat3 and
Page
cylindrical shape.
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For the rollers, the process is straightforward. Either the roller is replaced or,
since it is held by bearings at each end, it can be machined in place without too
much difficulty.

For the tire however, the matter is not so simple. Removing the tire, remachining it
in a vertical boring mill and replacing it, is an option seldom employed, even
though the results would be excellent.

Re-machining the tire in place or insitu is required from an economical

standpoint but then the results are often not satisfactory. The difficulty with
machining a tire insitu is that it does not run on a true center and it will have some
degree of wobble to it. This requires an innovative approach which is beyond the
capability of standard machining techniques.

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Measurement for face profile irregularities is fairly simple. Using a straight edge, a
piece of angle iron as shown, is usually good enough. Since these locations are often
poorly lit the use of a flashlight (torch) held by the assistant pointing it up from
underneath to illuminate the gap can be very helpful. The assistant can also use feeler
gauges to accurately measure the maximum gap. Doing this a few times helps to
calibrate the eye making subsequent measurements or estimates a little quicker.
The cost of grinding is directly related to the amount of material to be removed.
Irregularities of more than 1/2mm are worthwhile removing as it will significantly reduce
friction and stress on the rolling components.

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As with measurement for convex/concave conditions, measurement for tapers is also
done simply using a common straight edge like a length of angle iron.
Tapers are harder to detect because the straight edge must be referenced by
paralleling it to the roller shaft. If the shafts are sufficiently exposed simple trammel
bars or an assistant with a tape measure can produce adequate results. Tapers of
3mm and more can usually be detected in this way. Taper can however be severe and
not be noticed if this method is not employed. Tapers have been seen to be as much
as 9mm on the radius, which can be very costly to correct on a large roller.
The grinding technicians use Electronic Diameter Encoders and so can detect and
correct for any taper no matter how large or small without referencing the roller shaft. It
is however prudent to know the condition of the roller or tyre, even if only
approximately, before work commences so that costs are no surprise.

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TECHNIQUES FOR IN-PLACE RECONDITIONING
The first and crudest attempt is to place a cutting tool near the bottom of the tire. This
may have a limited degree of success but will leave the tire surface very rough, not
necessarily cylindrical and often with steps in it. Sacrificing far more material (and hence
tire life) than is necessary to restore the surface in order to try to get minimal acceptable
results is a big drawback.
The example here shows the typical random gouging that results from using a cutting
tool on the tire.

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TECHNIQUES FOR IN-PLACE RECONDITIONING
The belt grinder produces a beautiful finish but unfortunately does little else. If cosmetic
improvement is all that is required this method is adequate. Usually a considerable
amount of material needs to be removed from specific areas, the high spots, in order to
flatten the surface. Belt grinding removes material indiscriminately. Material removal is
slow and it is not just removed from the high spots.

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TECHNIQUES FOR IN-PLACE GRINDING
A cup grinding stone whose cutting position is firmly indexed on a fixed arc guided by the
tire surface itself is the technique whereby a flat surface and a true cylinder can be cut
back onto the tire even though it rotates without a true center. Of all the different methods
that have been attempted over the years the cup grinding stone method pioneered by
Phillips remains the most effective.

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PHILLIPS IN-SITU GRINDING
Removes the minimum amount of material to restore the surfaces
Rollers can be ground simultaneously with tires
Leaves a quality finish
Guaranteed flatness
Minimum amount of time.
Cost effective.
For larger units where changing rollers is not an attractive option, the rollers are ground
simultaneously with the tires. In so doing the newly machined surfaces of one
component are not damaged by the mating surface of the other.
Since removal of material from the rolling surfaces produces immediate reactions of the
unit, appropriate roller adjustments are required in order to avoid risking bearing
failures. Before reconditioning the rollers are usually over-skewed. As reconditioning
progresses the surface contact improves and the over-skewed position will create very
high thrust loads. These must be relieved. Experienced reconditioning crews will watch
and anticipate these reactions so that the reconditioning process can be completed
without interrupting the normal operation of the kiln.

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Improved operating conditions including a reduction in power to drive the unit is of
course the expected result. On occasion the reduction of power is not only
measurable but can be dramatic as is illustrated in the above example.
Power savings are not just the KW hours not purchased. The additional power was
used to overcome friction. Friction is machinery wear. The savings in power is
therefore an indirect measurement of the reduction of wear.

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