How rails are made?

 

Steel rail, we also called rails, tracks, is an important element of the rail system. The steel rail is used with rail joint and  railway fasteners like rail clip, railraod tie plate, turnouts to make the train run fast and steady without steering.
As we know, the rail system is composed of the two parallel rails and sleepers. The steel rails are fixed on the sleepers, and under the rail sleeper, is the railway track ballast. The steel rail can bear much more weight compared with other material rails. Due to the enormous pressure, the steel rail needs high-quality steel to make.

Nowadays, we would like to make the section of the steel rail as a Chinese character “工”. And the steel rails have their own destiny according to the use. Some steel rails are used for coming into contact with the wheels, which called railhead. Some steel rails at the middle of the track, which called rail web, and some steel rails at the bottom, which called the rail flanges. Different ways have different requirements for the intensity, stability and abrasion resistance of the steel rail. So there are many steel rails standards. 

The types of railway track are expressed in kilometer per meter. The heavier the steel rail per meter, the greater weight the rail can bear.

As for the rail track sizes, there are some differences among countries. The common standards in Europe are 40kg/m, 50kg/m, and 60kg/m. And the common rails standards in China are 43kg, 50kg, 60kg, and 75kg. Generally, the most common rails standards are 43kg, 60kg/m and 75kg/m. The United States prefers to the heavier rails. For example, the coal line applied to the 75kg/m rails at the United States. Of course, these rails mentioned, which are belong to the heavy steel rail category. Where can buy railroad rail? If you want to find the light railroad track manufacturers, you can choose the AGICO Rail.

Steel Rail processing

The process of steel rail manufacturing is simple. The most important is rolling the steel. After choosing the suitable steel billet, then the next step is rolling the steel.

Disposing the billet steel

Adopt the continuous casting bloom to improve the macrostructure of the billet steel. Besides, adopt the vacuum degassing and secondary refining technology to ensure the inner quality of the billet steel. This technology can control the Residual element and gas content and ensure the purity of the steel.

 

Rolling

As we know, the steel billet through rolling, cooling, and straightening can be made to the rails. During the process, the vital part is rolling. There are two methods to rolling: groove rolling and universal rolling.

• Groove rolling is simpler than the universal rolling. The metal deformation is steady. The groove rolling is suited for roughing deformation because of the simple control system. But the hole pattern adopts the asymmetry design, so the symmetry of the steel rail section is not very well. Besides, the control accuracy is not rigid, so the surface quality cannot be controlled well.

• Universal rolling is popular among the world, which is the best technology to produce the steel rail. The universal rolling system is fond of a pair of the active horizontal roll and a pair of the passive horizontal roll. These four rolls are working on the same level. The flat roll processes the rail web. The vertical roll and the flat roll processes the railhead and rail flanges together. The rolling mill guide beam is mounted directly on the bearing seat, which can move as a whole system and the rolling process is complete automation. 

Heating

Heating is better for improving the mechanical property drastically. The most popular heating technology is Quenching and tempering heat treatment and slow quenching. Meanwhile, adopt the walking beam furnace to heat the billet steel that can control the gas fractionation and prevent the decarburization and uneven temperature. 

Straightening

We would like to adopt the long rod to rolling, cooling and straightening. This technology is better for increasing the yield, reducing the residue stress and lengthening the service life of the steel rail.

 

Inspecting

Through the online quality inspect center, adopt the ultrasound wave, eddy, and laser to inspect the steel inner quality, the rail surface quality and the railroad track dimension. 

 

Cutting

It is common that adopt the carbide machine to drill and process the rail head so that can get the high accuracy.

With the development of the society, the high-speed railway, heavy load railway and the railway automatic control systems are becoming mainstreams. From the 1980s, China has studied this part and now takes new technology. 

Except for the advanced production technology, AGICO RAIL provides various standards railroad tracks and many different railroad track dimensions. As a railway component manufacturer, we also provide customization service for joint bar, rail clip, railroad spike, etc.