Rolling Mill Grinder Chatter Investigation

Grinder and Mill
Chatter Investigation

Vibremo engineers have extensive experience performing grinder and mill chatter investigations in the steel and aluminium industries, finding the root cause of chatter marks on sheet metal and rolls, and providing solutions to the metal coil producer.

Chatter

Chatter vibration on grinders and rolling mills has the potential to cause severe quality issues, whether that be on the surface of the ground rolls, or on the strip output from the mill. Vibration creating chatter marks is often the result of complex problems, and can require extensive on-site vibration measurements and analysis, on both the grinding machines and the rolling mills.

Chatter mark issues result in reduced productivity on the mill, primarily through the rejection of coils with chatter marks, but also through the need for the rolls to be replaced more frequently, leading to an increase in down time on the mill.

Solving and preventing chatter issues increases productivity and saves energy, resulting in a more eco-friendly and sustainable production process for sheet metal in the aluminium and steel industries.

Chatter marks on output strip

Bearing defect

What causes chatter?

There are many causes of chatter. It can be a result of a structural resonance being excited, whether that’s a steady or wheel head resonance on the grinder, or 3rd and 5th Octave resonance on the mill. Chatter marks can also be caused by forced vibrations. These can be a result of bearing defects in chocks, coupling misalignment on roll drives in the mill, wheel imbalances on the grinder, chain issues in the headstock, and many other potential component problems.

It is often impossible to tell what the source of the chatter is without performing a proper on-site investigation.

How can Vibremo help?

Vibremo engineers have performed chatter investigations on grinding machines and rolling mills in the UK, Europe and America, often spending extended periods of time in aluminium and steel plants in order to properly investigate all the machines that support the mill, including the work and backup roll grinders.

We can analyse operational measurements during rolling on the mill to find speeds which may be more prone to chatter, and to also identify any potential component issues in the chock sets used.

Additionally, for roll grinders, Vibremo can investigate the root cause of any excessive vibration or chatter by taking measurements through various roll and wheel speeds, and power levels (current). Key frequency modes can also be measured to identify any potential resonant excitation that may be occurring during grinding.