TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT FOR RAIL WELDING PLANTS

TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT FORRAIL WELDING PLANTS

Closed Joint Stock Company Pskovelectrosvar is a unique industrial enterprise manufacturing heavy electro-welding equipment for the needs of railways, metallurgical industry and facilities for welding large diameter pipes, as well as a broad range of spare parts, transformers and other associated products. In 2006 the company implemented the quality management system ISO 9001.

Pskovelectrosvar is the largest Russian company designing and manufacturing automatic machines, equipment complexes and robotized welding lines for flash butt, spot, projection, arc and other methods of welding, as well as components and spare parts for flash butt welding equipment.

The Rail Welding Plant is one of the major activity spheres of our company offering to the customer a packaged solution, including the following:

Production and delivery of a new rail welding plant;

Installation works and commissioning;

Customer training;

Overhaul and modernization;

After-sales services;

Spare parts supply.

Technological Equipment for Rail Welding Plants

1 – Delivery of rails and unloading in the covered storage area2 – Incoming inspection and transfer to the technological process line 3 – Brushing contact surfaces of rails before welding4 – Cutting rails to required length5 – Drilling bolt holes at the beginning and at the end of a continuous welded rail (CWR) 6 – Flash butt welding of rails 7 – Straightening of welded joints in hot condition in vertical and horizontal planes8 – Rough grinding of welded joints around the entire perimeter 9 – Heat treatment of welded joints 10 – Air and water cooling of welded joints11 – Straightening of welded joints in cold condition12 – Final grinding of the rail head in the welded joint area13 – Cooling of welded joints 14 – Transfer of welded rails to the continuous rail distributor 15 – Loading continuous welded rails onto a rail carrying train

Standard Scheme of the Technological Process at the Rail Welding Plant

Technological Equipment for Rail Welding Plants

Delivery of Rails and Unloading in the Covered Storage Area

The rails are delivered by the technological railway access track or by cars. The Storage Area is intended for storing rails after unloading and feeding them to the process welding lines. The capacity of the Storage Area makes it possible to keep an amount of rails sufficient for monthly production volume of the plant or more.

The Storage Area is a sheltered room made of profiled sheet and having through passages. The rails are unloaded onto horizontal landings into stacks by remote controlled electric hoists with special grippers. At customer request, the Storage Area can be equipped with electric hoists of different capacity and with gripping mechanisms of various types.

Basic parameters Value

Area dimensions, L*W*H, mm 35140*29440*176

Max. quantity of the rails stored in the area, pcs.

2000

Max. mass of the stored rails, t 3600

The Storage Area of the Rail Welding Plant

Incoming Inspection and Rail Transfer to the Process Line

Before being transferred to the line, the rails go through incoming inspection. The acceptance stamps and marks are checked. The surface defects are checked visually. The rails are transferred to the technological line by the Universal Roller Transfer Sections. The Section is manufactured in three modifications:1) with the drive without isolation of the rollers – 6YT.321.007;2) with the drive and isolated rollers – 6YT.321.007-01;3) without drive – 6YT.321.007-02.

The sections are equipped with power and control electric equipment connected to a united linear circuit with an output to the control desk at each station. The sections are interchangeable, easy mountable and ensure quick changing of the driving force at each section in case of installation of additional equipment or modernization of the technological line.

Basic parameters 6YТ.321.007 6YТ.321.007-01 6YТ.321.007-02

Driver capacity, kW 1,5 1,5 -

Max. transfer speed, m/sec. 0,5 0,5 0,5

The Universal Roller Transfer Sections

Brushing Contact Surfaces of Rails before Welding

Contact surfaces of the rails are cleaned before welding by the Brushing Machine, the two joined rails are brushed simultaneously. The machine consists of the brushing unit, the control cabinet, the filter and ventilation unit. The machine can be installed in the technological line and can be operated together with the rail welding machine or separately.

The cleanness of the treated contact surface meets contemporary requirements to flash butt welding and ensures obtaining optimal electrical parameters of flashing heat balance which is of great importance for performing a welded joint of good quality.


Time of treatment of the joint, not more than, min.

2

Max. length of brushed surfaces, mm 700

Installed capacity at duty cycle = 22%, kW 8,1

Additional travel (manual movement), mm 1000

The Brushing Machine

Cutting Rails to Required Length

The Rail Cutting Machine is intended for cutting rails to the required length, if necessary, and for cutting out welded joints samples for testing. The saw frame of the machine is placed on two pillars, thus considerably enhancing the rigidity and the precision of cutting.


Main electric motor, kW 1,1

Hydraulic oil pump, kW 0,37

Cooling system pump, kW 0,09

Band saw dimensions, mm 3660*27*0,9

Band saw speed at 50Hz, m/min 20-45-70

The Rail Cutting Machine

Drilling Bolt Holes at the Beginning and at the End of CWR


Electric motor capacity at 2850 rpm, kW 2,7

Level of protection IP55

Revolutions of the drill spindle, rpm 60

Drilling time, min 1,5

Drill diameter, mm Up to 40

At each end of the continuous welded rail there are drilled three bolt holes by the Rail Drilling Machine Robel 10.35.

The machine provides automatic feeding of the drill and adjustment of the drill height, it is equipped with durable spiral drills, fast clamping device and clamping gauges for fish passes of different types of rails.

The drilling of the holes is made by the Rail Drilling Machine mounted on a special roller section. The rails are transferred to the welding operation by driven roller sections.

The Rail Drilling Machine Robel 10.35

Flash Butt Welding of Rails

The welding is carried out by the Rail Welding Machine designed for flash butt welding (pulse flashing) of rails in stationary conditions. The machine provides centering of the rails according to their axis and to the height of the rail head before welding, as well as removal of weld flash around the perimeter of the joint immediately after welding.The control system of the machine is made on the basis of an industrial computer and ensures:1. setting up and checking technological parameters which determine the quality of the welded joint;2. condition monitoring of executive mechanisms of the machine;3. condition monitoring of electric power part of the machine;4. providing the operator with information about the welding process in real time;5. saving information about the welding process for each welded joint;6. Printing out a passport for each joint;7. self checking and self diagnostics.


Nominal upsetting force at pressure 15,7 MPa, daN (kgf), not less

63000

Max. upsetting force at pressure 20,93MPa, daN (kgf), not less

84000

Max. clamping force, daN (kgf), not less 151000

Max. upsetting speed, mm/sec., not less 30

Limits of regulation of flashing speed, mm/sec. 0,2 … 5

The Rail Welding Machine

Testing Samples of Welded Joints

Contemporary requirements to safety of the railway transport make it unacceptable relying only on a passport of the welded joint printed out by the welding machine. To test the welded joints, a sample check of conformance to the set up welding parameters is performed by means of static transverse bend testing of the samples on the Special Compact Press.

The control system of the press is made on the basis of an industrial computer. It allows registering and saving parameters of the testing process, registers every fracture, displays the load curve of the process and allows controlling the procedure in real time mode. Small dimensions and weight of the press allow using it both in plant conditions and as a part of rail-bound welding machinery.


Max. force, t, not less 320

Max. bend, mm 60

The Special Compact Press

Straightening of Welded Joints in Hot Condition in Vertical and Horizontal Planes

The welded rail joint proceeds to the Hot Joint Straightening Facility. The facility is designed for strengthening hot welded joints in order to achieve the required geometry of the running surface and the rail head.

The facility straightens the rail in horizontal and vertical planes, standard straightening length is 1700 mm. The frame has two support rollers on which the welded rail moves, two hydraulic cylinders for straightening in the horizontal plane and one hydraulic cylinder for straightening in the horizontal plane. The pullers have rollers and stops which limit the movement of the rail during straightening. The movement control of the limit stops of the hydraulic cylinders is carried out by the joystick in four directions; the cylinders are powered from the hydraulic station. The facility skips insulating rail joints with combined metal-composite fishplates.


Hydraulic cylinder force for horizontal straightening, kN (kgf) 80 (8000)

Hydraulic cylinder force for vertical straightening, kN (kgf) 196 (19600)

Straightening speed, mm/sec., not less30

The Hot Joint Straightening Facility

After straightening, the rail moves on to the rough grinding procedure. The driving force necessary for further movement of the continuous welded rail along the welding line is provided by the Pulling Facility. The drivers of the sections are automatically switched off in this case, which ensures electricity saving.


Pulling force, kN, not less 10,4

Clamping force of the rollers, kN, not less 70

Speed of CWR movement in steady-state condition, m/sec.

0,5

Max. acceleration (deceleration) of CWR movement, m/sec., not more

0,02

Rough Grinding of Welded Joints Around the Entire Perimeter

The Pulling Facility

At the stationary Rough Grinding Station abrasive treatment of the joint around the entire perimeter in accordance with the basic rail profile is done by the grinding machines.

The Rough Grinding Station is a cabin equipped with the local exhaust and input ventilation. The set of grinding machines for the Rough Grinding Station consists of one floor-mounted machine and two suspended ones.


Installed electrical capacity, kW 12

Speed of CWR movement, mm/sec. 0,5

Grinding wheel rotation speed, rpm 2850

Grinding wheel circumferential speed, m/sec.

40

Distance (height) from the guides to rail foot, mm

360

The Rough Grinding Station

Rough Grinding of Welded Joints Around the Entire Perimeter

Heat Treatment of Welded Joints

Heat treatment of the welded joint is carried out by the High Frequency Inductive Heating Unit.

The process of heat treatment consists in uniform heating of the entire rail section in the welded joint area to a given temperature with subsequent hardening by means of forced cooling by compressed air. The control unit of the technological process ensures complete automation with minimum participation of the operator.


Heating temperature, оС 850 – 900

Temperature measurement range, оC 200 – 1200

Time of joint heating, sec., not more 240

Time interval between heating stop and cooling start, sec., not more

15

Time of joint cooling, not less, sec. 180

The High Frequency Inductive Heating Unit

Air and Water Cooling of Welded Joints

The Air and Water Cooling Section of the welded joint is intended for cooling the welded joints of the continuous welded rail moving along the technological process line of the Rail Welding Plant.

As the continuous welded rail is stopped at the section, the welded joint is watered for cooling. When the rail moves further along the process line, water supply to the diffuser is disconnected, and the frames for air-blowing and drying wet surfaces of the continuous welded rail are switched on. Water cooling and drying procedures are performed at given time intervals.


Number of bearing rollers, pcs. 2

Bearing roller diameter, mm 160

Overall dimensions, mm, L*W*H 4088*620*1084

Length of water cooling area, mm 960

Power input, W 500

The Air and Water Cooling Section

Straightening of Welded Joints in Cold Condition

After the operations of heat treatment and cooling, the cold welded joint is straightened by the Cold Joint Straightening Unit in order to match the standard requirements to rail straightness.

The unit straightens the rail in horizontal and vertical planes along the standard length of 1300 mm, checking the rail bending at the length of 750 mm by laser sensors. The unit skips insulating rail joints with combined metal-composite fishplates. The control system of the unit is made on the basis of an industrial computer ensuring registration and saving the process parameters of straightening of the welded joint.


Straightening time, min., not more 5

Max. bending moment, kgm, not less - horizontal straightening - vertical straightening

1546053485

The Cold Joint Straightening Unit

Final Grinding of Rail Head in the Welded Joint Area

The final grinding of the welded joints on the running surface and lateral sides is carried out at the Final Grinding Station.

The grinding machine ensures the required geometry and smoothness of the welded joint. The Final Grinding Station is a cabin equipped with the local exhaust and input ventilation. The Station includes the grinding machine for final grinding of the rail head profile.


Speed of CWR movement, mm/sec. 0,5

Distance between the guide rollers, mm 855-1000

Distance between the bearing rollers, mm 795-880

The Final Grinding Station

Transfer of CWR along the Process Line

The Pulling Transporter is a part of the Rail Welding Plant process line intended for transporting continuous welded rails.

The control system of the transporter is made of latest-generation components. The conveying speed of the continuous welded rail and the driving force of the transporter are controlled by the variable frequency drive. Depending on the length of continuous welded rail, the Pulling Transporter can be made in two modifications: TT-02, consisting of four modules, and TT-03, consisting of five modules.

Basic parameters ТТ-02 ТТ-03

Pulling force, kg 6620 8280

Number of pulling rollers 8 10

Max. speed of CWR movement, m/sec.

0,5 0,5

Installed capacity, kW 37,92 47,12

Method of changing speed of CWR movement

Freq. Freq.

The Pulling Transporter

Ultrasonic Control of Welded Joints

The quality control of the welded joints is carried out by the automatic multichannel Ultrasonic Defectoscope. The Defectoscope checks the whole rail section (including blades of the rail foot) by means of 86 check channels. The ultrasonic test of the joint ensures detecting defects of various form and orientation. The detecting system includes five blocks of resonators, one of which is situated on the running surface of the rail head, two on the lateral surfaces of the head, and two on the upper surfaces of the blades of the rail foot. Before checking the welded joint, the acoustic contact under each sensor is checked automatically. The check results for each joint are saved in the memory of the Defectoscope in form of protocols.


Setup time before working, sec., not more 240

Time of continuous work without battery recharging, h, not less

12

The Ultrasonic Defectoscope

Transfer of Welded Rails to the Continuous Welded Rail Transporter-Distributor

After the ultrasonic testing the continuous welded rail is transferred by the Pulling Transporter to the Transporter-Distributor intended for redistribution of the continuous welded rails from different process lines when loading them onto a rail carrying train.

Using the turning guides of the Transporter-Distributor, the continuous welded rails are loaded onto special rail-carrying trains which transport them to track construction sites.


Rail transportation height, mm 700

Distance between the flows, mm 4200

Distance between the Transporter- Distributor and the Rail Carrying Train, mm

59000

The Continuous Welded Rail Transporter-Distributor

Thank You for Attention!

Documents

TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT FOR RAIL WELDING PLANTS