WELDING OF RAILS

1) RAILS

• In India, Rails are rolled in lengths of 13m or 26 m.

They are normally in two sizes 52 kg/m (66.15 sq.m) and 60
kg/m (76.86 sq.m). Ultimate tensile strength of Rails is 900
N/sq.mm.
2) Fish Plate joining of Rails

• In the earlier days, rails were joined through Fish Plates

and Bolts. The gaps in between rails took care of the
expansion/contraction due to temperature variations.

3) Limitations of Fish plated Rails

• These joints are weak, prone for sabotage, results in

additional dynamic stress to Rails as well as Rolling stocks
because of discontinuity in rail surface, results in noise
pollution and additional maintenance efforts for track and
rolling stocks and reduced life of rails due to faster rail end
wear.
4) Long Welded Rails (LWRs).

• Hence, it was proposed to eliminate Fish Plate

joints by welding rails for a length of atleast 1 km upto
a few km. These are called Long welded Rails
(LWRs). Except towards either ends, the middle
portions of such LWRs can’t expand/contract because
of such long lengths. This leads to build up of
tensile/compressive forces in the rails which are taken
care of in the design of track. Only the end stretches
(about 100 m on either ends) expand/contract and
these stretches are called Breathing lengths.

5) Joining of LWRs.

• The LWRs are connected by Switch Expansion

Joints (SEJs) similar to Fish plates, so as to take care
of expansion/contraction in the breathing lengths.
6) AT Weld of Rails.
• Alumino Thermit Weld (AT Weld) Method was
introduced initially. It involves pre-treating of rail ends
and dropping of mixture (Aluminium, iron oxide etc.)
called Thermit Portions in between rail ends with the use
of moulds. The exothermic chemical reaction produces
enormous heat (2450o C) and leads to melting of rail
ends and the molten portion bonds the rails. The
process introduces certain foreign materials permanently.
Besides, it modifies to certain extent metallurgy of the
rails adjacent to such AT welded joints. Hence, the
strength of such AT Welds is only around 70% of that of
the rails. Advantage is that the method can be easily
adopted in situ.

• Life of AT weld is about 8 years.

7) FB Welding of Rails at Workshop and
its limitations.

• Next, Flash Butt Welding System was introduced to

weld rails. The method is to hold the rail ends to be
welded and butt them with force with simultaneous
passing of electric current (5 volts & 35000 ampere)
between them. This produces enormous heat
(1500oC) resulting in fusion of the rail ends. The
strength of this type of welds (FBW) is almost same as
that of rails. Initially the FB Welding was being done in
a stationary workshop. But, difficulty in transporting
long length limited the lengths of such welded rails to
130 m only.

• Life of AT weld is about 10 to 12 years.

8) Mobile FB Welding of Rails.
• Now, mobile Flash Butt Welding system has been
introduced which can do rail welding in-situ. With, such
mobile FB Welding of rails, any lengths of welded rails
could be achieved.
• The mobile FB welding Plant consists of welding
head with clamping Jaws, Electrical Transformer,
forging mechanism and control unit mounted on a self
propelled truck that moves on rails as well as on road.
All operations like clamping and alignment of rail ends,
welding, quantum of electric current, Butt force and
period, hydraulic shearing of welding Burrs are all
controlled through micro processors. All the parameters
of each weld are recorded and preserved for further
monitoring during their service life.
• Time taken for Mobile FB weld is 6 mnts.
• 50 to 60 joints can be done in a 8 hrs. shift.
9) Quality control of Mobile FB Welds:

• Following inspections/tests are conducted on Welds

before accepting them:

i. Visual inspection.

i. Dimensional checks.

ii. Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) tests to check

for internal cracks.

iii. Other strength tests on sample joints (Brinnel

hardness test, transverse load test etc.)

iv. Magnaflux test to ensure freedom from cracks,

lack of fusion, oxide inclusion etc.
10) Cost Comparison:

i. Fish plates and bolts. : Rs. 1600 per joint.

ii. AT Weld : Rs. 2250 per joint.
iii. FB Weld : Rs. 2500 per joint.

11) De-stressing of Welded Rails.

• At the rail temperature midway between maximum and

minimum expected in the region, LWR panels are made
free of any stress by removing fastening.

• This temperature is called de-stressing temperature.

• If actual temperature at any particular time is more
than de-stressing temperature, t hen, there will be
compressive force developed in the rails and there
will be Track Buckling tendency.

• Similarly when temperature is lesser, tensile force is

developed and there will be rail/weld fracture
tendency.

• The de-stressing temperature is so selected that the

buckling & fracture tendencies are balanced and kept
within limits.
12) Conclusion.

• Now a days in almost all projects, mobile flash butt

welding system is adopted. AT welds are used only for
scattered weldings.
MOBILE FLASH BUTT WELDING
PLANT
SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF
FBW
Thank You