Abstract. The complex dynamics of grinding repeatedly cause critical or unstable process conditions. For a better understanding and prediction of such occurrences, the dominant excitation phenomena need to be identified and their interrelation with the system dynamics have to be analyzed.Based on measurements of the excited frequencies in several operation modes of the grinding machine, the grinding wheel rotation is identified as a major excitation source. Further analysis of the grinding wheel surface displays three main components that define the excitation frequencies of the system; these are the eccentricity, waviness and roughness (also named wheel topography). Moreover, the wheel topography and thus the excitation frequencies can change over time due to excessive wear.Following the experimental results, a grinding wheel topography and wear model are developed and included in an integrated simulation of tool grinding. The analysis of the calculated cutting forces in the frequency domain confirm the excitation due to the grinding wheel topography.Firstly, this work has extracted the grinding wheel as a prominent excitation mechanism and reproduced it with the developed grinding model. Secondly, we have evidence that a complete description of the complex grinding process is only possible when considering the interdependence between system dynamics, wheel kinematics and the grinding process.