Usually track fractures occur because of temperature fluctuations.

A welding
failure points towards negligence.

Failure of Railway staff is the biggest cause behind train accidents and derailments that have
led to maximum deaths and injuries to passengers, said a safety report submitted to Railway
Ministry.
Railway has constituted a task force on safety on December 6 last year after the derailment
near Kanpur, killing 151 people.
The committee comprising senior railway officials involved in safety mechanism was asked to
conduct data analysis of investigation into the past accidents and developed a “factual view
of potential solutions.”
The report submitted recently has categorically stated the failure of railway staff is the biggest
cause in 50 to 60 per cent cases, and derailments cause maximum deaths and injuries.
According to the report, asset failures like track defects such as rail fracture and inadequate
maintenance remain the biggest cause of accidents.
Taking note of increase in number of derailments due to rail-fractures and weld failures, it has
suggested a need to address the backlog in rail/track renewals and the technology of rail
welding.
Advocating technology upgradation to have less dependence on human intervention, the
report said “Inspection of Rails is a complex exercise and must be automated as much as
possible to reduce dependence on human judgement.”

TRACK WELDING:

All of us are familiar with the clickety – click sound of rail joints. This sound is
unpleasant to the passengers. It is primarily objectionable because of the
additional maintenance expenses. This unpleasant sound comes from the fish-
plated joints and if these joints could be eliminated, the track will give better
riding comforts, reduce maintenance costs and safe- guard from sabotage. It is
hardly surprising therefore that the railways have gone for laying welded rails.

There are three main processes for welding of rail joints: Alumino-Thermic,
Flash-Butt and Gas Pressure welding.

Alumino-Thermic Welding

Fig.15: Thermit welding of rail joint is in progress

Alumino-Thermic commonly known as thermit welding is the pioneer in-situ rail
welding process throughout the world. The process is simple and no expensive
equipment is required. It is similar to steel making process (Fig.15). The weld
metal is produced by the exothermic reaction between aluminum and iron
oxide, carried out in a refractory lined crucible. Keeping in view the rail steel
chemistry and the metallurgical aspects of the weld deposit, the mixture is
formulated. Besides, aluminum and iron oxide, steel chips, Ferro-manganese,
Ferro-silicon, calcium fluoride, vanadium etc. are added in the mixture in
proportions appropriate to that required in the final weld metal. Petrol and air
mixture is used for preheating the rail ends covered with refractory moulds.

Flash-Butt Welding

Fig. 16: Flash-Butt welding machine for rail welding

Flash-Butt welding of rail joints is carried out regularly in the workshops
(Fig.16) for joining 3,5,10 and 20 rails to form long welded rails as required. In
this process, the rail ends are butted against each other without any gap while
heating is obtained by electric resistance by making and breaking contacts with
each rail end until the melting temperature is reached. The number of making
and breaking contacts are preset to achieve the required temperature, which
when achieved, the upsetting pressure is applied to accomplish the weld.
Welding is carried out mostly by an automatic electric resistance welding
machine. Mobile Flash-Butt welders are also now available which are used at
site in some of the railways.

Gas Pressure Welding

Gas Pressure Welding is also another method of joining of rail ends. This
process is largely used in many of the advanced countries for their high speed
routes. So far, only two railways in India have used this process. It is a solid
phase bonding process where the heating temperature never exceeds beyond
the solidus of the metals i.e. the temperature does not reach the fusion point of
the metals.

In this method, the rail ends are butted against each other without any gap
(Fig.17) in between at a very high pressure, which is then heated by a special
designed burner in the shape of the rail ends to about 1,200°C. When the
desired upset is reached, heating is discontinued. The upset metal is trimmed
off all round the contour of the rail section. The quality of the joints is the best
amongst all the methods of joining of rail ends.

Quality of Rail Joints

In its effort to minimise train accidents vis-à-vis quality of the rail joints, the
railways have pressed into service a slew of sophisticated devices including the
state-of-the-art SPURT (Self-Propelled Ultrasonic Rail Testing) car to detect
defects in the rail and welded joints. With an on board computer, this car can
detect the flaws more objectively and accurately while running at 40kmph. The
other sophisticated testing equipments include full size fatigue testing
equipment are used to maintain the quality of rail joints.

Conclusion

Except for some exotic and costly welding processes developed especially for
jobbing types of application in defence, nuclear and aviation industry, Indian
Railways use almost all welding processes available today. As a result, welding
has progressed leaps and bounds on Indian Railways and today they are the
largest users of welding consumables and equipment.

The railways to arrange for sufficient numbers of qualified professionals besides,

training and certification of their supervisors and skilled artisans.

The success of the Metro-lines has prompted other State Governments to go for
metro-rail system in their big cities especially Mumbai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad and Chennai.

As India moves towards a relative prosperity, it will force Indian Railways to opt
for more advanced welding technology for creating Railway assets in future.

(“Indian railways on fast track with welding | Weldfab Tech Times,” n.d.)