Handbook On Quality Assurance For at Welding

(For Official Use Only)
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Quality Assurance
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
Quality for
Assurance
for
AT Welding
AT Welding
CAMTECH/C/2007/WELDING/1.0
February - 2007
Centre
for
Advanced
Maintenance
TECHnology EXECELLENCE IN MAINTENANCE
Maharajpur, Gwalior - 474 005 (INDIA)

 : 0751 - 2470869 & Fax : 0751 - 2470841
Quality Assurance
for
AT Welding
Preface
AT welding, which are being mainly executed in the field
for welding of rails in the track. Proper quality control is essential
in execution of AT welds to make the joints defects free and also
to avoid failure of welds. This handbook attempts to review the
process and to identify deficiencies, which may take place and
explain their effect on quality of weld.
The objective of this handbook is to provide basic

information and technical details regarding AT Welding. It covers
selection of rails, material for welding, staff, equipments &
procedure of SKV welding, and precautions during welding and
major defects in AT welding. This handbook does not supersede
any existing instructions from Railway Board, RDSO & Zonal
Railways and the provisions of IRPWM, AT Weld Manual etc. on
the subject. This book is not statutory and contents are for the
purpose of guidance only.
I am grateful to Shri Neeraj Shrivastava,

STA/Civil/CAMTECH, who went through the complete text,
collected information, data etc. and done editing work. Nice data
entry has done by Shri Ramesh Bhojwani, Console Operator,
IRCAMTECH.
We welcome any suggestion for addition and

improvements from our readers.
CAMTECH/Gwalior A.K.Dadarya
Date : 06.02.2007 Director / Civil
CONTENTS
Sr. Description Page

No. Nos.
Preface i
Content ii
Correction Slip iii
1.0 Introduction 01
2.0 Selection of Rails 04
3.0 Material for AT Welding 08
4.0 Staff for AT Welding 10
5.0 Equipments for SKV Welding 11
6.0 Process of SKV Welding 14
7.0 Post Welding Operations 23
8.0 Thermit Weld Register 28
9.0 Sample Test Joint 32
10.0 Precautions During Welding 34
11.0 Major Defects in AT Welding 36
Notes 41
***
ISSUE OF CORRECTION SLIPS
The correction slips to be issued in future for this

handbook will be numbered as follows:
CAMTECH/2007/C/WELDING/1.0/CS. # XX date ……
Where “XX” is the serial number of the concerned

correction slip (starting from 01 onwards).
CORRECTION SLIPS ISSUED
Sr. No. Date Page no. and Remarks

of of Item No.
C.Slip issue modified
CAMTECH/C/2007/WELDING/1.0 1
Go to index
CHAPTER – 1
Introduction
1.0 General
Welding of rails is done mainly by three methods i.e. Gas

Pressure welding, Flash Butt Welding, Alumino-thermic welding
(Thermit welding). On Indian Railways, Alumino-thermic (AT)
welding, which are being mainly executed in the field to convert
flash butt welded panels into long panels and for repair of
fracture. Normally new single rails shall not be welded by AT
welding.
AT Weld failures continue to haunt the Indian Railways. These

failures are of serious concern as each weld failure has the
potential to cause a derailment and also they lead to disruption to
traffic and reduce effective line capacity. Statistics shows that
failures of alumino-thermic welds account for 90 to 95% of total
weld failures and approximately 34% of AT welds failures are of
welds younger than five years, there is certainly a need to look
ahead and identify deficiencies. New techniques adopted in recent
years such as combination joints and wide gap welding have
aimed at removing some of the handicaps in the in-situ welding of
rails. But there has been no major improvement in the technology
for AT welds in the last decade. Hence, there is tremendous
potential to improve the quality of AT welds.
Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

1.1 Alumino-Thermic Welding
 In the alumino-thermic welding process, a mixture of

aluminium, ferroalloys and iron oxide etc, is ignited in a
crucible to yield molten steel. The molten steel is poured into
a mould enveloping the rail ends. The rail ends are preheated
before molten steel is poured. The molten steel on cooling
solidifies in the mould, welding the two rail ends together.
Extra metal around the rail ends is then chipped off.
Chemical Reaction
Fe2O3 + 2Al = Al2O3 + 2Fe + Heat

Iron oxide + Aluminium = Aluminium oxide + Iron + Heat

 Two types of alumino-thermic welding process are in use on

Indian Railway, for welding of rails, namely conventional
welding and SKV welding (Short pre heat welding). SKV
welding process has been standardised for 75R and higher rail
section and welding of 60R rails will be done by conventional
welding process.
 The details of conventional welding and SKV welding process

are as under :
S. Description Conventional SKV welding

N. welding
1. Type of Green mould Prefabricated mould
mould
2. Mode of Side heating by a Top heating by a burner with
preheating burner with air air petrol fuel mixture using
petrol fuel hand operated compressor.
mixture using Oxy-LPG and compressed
hand operated air petrol fuel mixture is
compressor also being used.
3. Source of Mainly by Partly preheating and mostly
energy for prolonged by superheated extra molten
fusion preheating and thermit steel
partly by the
superheated
molten thermit
steel.
4. Pre heating 45±5 Minute 15 ± 5 Minute
time
5. Pre heating 950º C 600º C
temperature
***

Go to index
CHAPTER - 2
Selection of Rails
2.1 General
 Rails shall be tested before welding, with ultrasonic flaw

detector apart from visual inspection, so that rails having
cracks and internal flaws are excluded from welding.
 Rails with excessive scabbing, wheel burns, corrugations and

wear of rail seats shall not be used for welding for satisfactory
running on welded rail panels. The rail flange bottom shall be
visually inspected to ensure freedom from defects like dent,
notch, corrosion etc.
 End bends
For both new as well as second hand rails, before welding, the
end bends of the rails should be within + 0.5 mm, - 0 mm in
vertical and ± 0.5 mm in lateral direction, when checked with
one metre straight edge.
ELEVATION
Tolerance on the end bends in vertical plane

PLAN
Tolerance on the end bends in horizontal plane
 The rolling marks on the web of rails shall be checked before

welding to ensure that rails of different qualities are not
welded together. However in unavoidable circumstances,
where rails of Grade 710 (72 UTS) and Grade 880 (90 UTS)
chemistry are to be welded, the portion of Grade 880 (90
UTS) chemistry shall be utilized for welding.
 In case of repair of fractured rail/defective weld with wide gap

(75mm) weld, the rail shall be cut from centre of rail
fracture/defective weld 37-38mm each side for making
suitable gap of 75mm, provided bolt holes do not fall within
40mm from cut faces.
 No alumino-thermic welded joint shall be located closer than

4 m from any other welded/fishplated joint.

2.2 Second hand rails
 Obsolete rail sections and rails older than 50 years shall not,
normally, be welded. Specific approval of the Railway Board
may be obtained in special cases.
 The Chief Track Engineer shall satisfy himself that second

hand rails have a substantial rail life to make it a safe and
economical proposal.
 Second hand rails shall be match-marked before releasing

from track to enable matching of the rail ends at the time of
welding.
 Kinks in the rails shall be removed before welding.
 Rails shall be free from corrosion or excessive wear.
 The height of rail and width of rail head shall not be less than
the values as under :
Rail Height of Min. height Width of Min. width of old
section new rail of old rail head of new rail at the gauge
(mm) (mm) rail (mm) corner (mm)
60 kg 172 163 72 66
52 kg 156 150 67 61
90R 143 139 67 61
75R 129 126 62 56
60R 114 112 57 51
The limit of lateral wear in the railhead as given above, viz. 6 mm

may be followed subject to uniform gauge without any abrupt
change.

 While using second hand rail panels for secondary renewal,

the ends should be cropped to eliminate fish boltholes. If rail
ends do not have boltholes, the ends may be cropped to a
distance of minimum 150mm for AT welds and 85mm for
flash butt welds from the centre of welded joint to eliminate
heat-affected zone of welds. End cropping may be suitably
increased to ensure that rail ends are within the limits as
specified above.
 The ends of second hand rails should be suitably cropped by

sawing or using abrasive disc cutter and not by flame cutting.
2.3 New rails
Rails to be welded shall conform to the tolerances as given below:

S. Grade of rail Rail Head Height Flange Thickness End
N. sect- width (mm) width of web square-
ion (mm) (mm) (mm) ness
(mm)
1. Grade 880 52 kg  0.5 +0.8 1.0 +1.0 0.6
(90 UTS) -0.4 -0.5
60 kg -do- -do- +1.2 -do- -do-
-1.0
2. Grade 1000 52 kg -do- -do- 1 -do- -do-
(100 UTS) 60 kg -do- -do- +1.2 -do- -do-
-1.0
3. Grade 1080 60 kg -do- -do- +1.2 -do- -do-
Head hardened rails -1.0
4. Chrome manganese 60 kg 0.5 0.6 +1.0 +1.0 0.6
& chrome vanadium (UIC) -1.1 -0.5
alloy steel rails
(110 UTS)
***

Go to index
CHAPTER – 3
Material for AT Welding

3.1 Portion
 The quantity of mixture required for making one joint is

called portion. It is packed by the supplier in one bag and
marked with the poundage of the rail, which it is meant. The
mixture is designed to produce alloy steel as close in
composition and structure to the rail steel as possible.
 The suitability of the portion for the welding process in

respect of the type and section of rails to be welded shall be
ensured before commencing welding.
 Only RDSO certified/passed portions should be used for

welding.
 No specific shelf life has been indicated for AT welding

portions. Life of portions would depend on the quality of
packing and storage condition. AT portion is sensitive to
moisture and if the portion absorbs moisture then all such
portion should not be used for welding. If packing is intact
and there is no entry of moisture, the portion can be used even
after a long time.
 The portions beyond two years after the date of manufacturing

will be permitted for use after testing of the sample (one
random sample per batch of 300 or part thereof) of portion for
reaction test, if the reaction is normal.

 In case the reaction is found to be quiet or boiling, a test joint

should be made from one more sample selected from the
batch. The test joints shall be tested for Aluminium content
test (from riser of the joint) & load deflection test at Zonal
CMTs organisation and/or the Flash Butt Welding Plant. The
result of sample test joint should satisfy the requirements of
specification IRS:T-19-1994, then the batch represented by
the sample can be used otherwise batch should be rejected.
3.2 Prefabricated Moulds
 Prefabricated high sillica sand (CO2 dried) moulds supplied by

the portion manufacturer shall be used for SKV welding.
 The pre-fabricated moulds are to be supplied in sets, so that

the two parts of the mould match properly. The sets should
not, therefore, be disturbed.
 Moulds should be free from defects, dampness, cracks,

blocked vents etc shall be used for welding.
 The moulds should have adequate permeability for escape of

mould gas. A damp mould would fail on this account and if
used, would cause high porosity of weld metal.
***

Go to index
CHAPTER – 4
Staff for AT Welding
4.0 Staff for AT Welding (Compressor tank-wise)
Designation Numbers
Welder Grade I/Grade II 1
Welder Grade III/ Skilled Artisan 2
Helper Khalasi/Khalasi 5
Gangman As per work load
The composition of welding team has been framed taking

into account that trimming and grinding operation would
be done by weld trimmer and rail profile grinder.
***

Go to index
CHAPTER – 5
Equipments for SKV Welding
5.1 Pre-heating equipment
Quantity
S. No. Description Mass Repair
Welding Welding
A Air-petrol pre-heating
1. Pressure tanks with pressure gauges 2 Nos. 1 No.
complete
2. Vaporisers (burner) complete 2 Nos. 1 No.
3. Nozzle prickers 4 Nos. 2 Nos.
4. Nozzle keys 1 No. 1 No.
5. Vaporiser stand 2 Nos. 1 No.
6. Goose neck attachment to vaporiser 4 Nos. 2 nos.
B Compressed air-petrol pre-heating
1. Compressor system with pressure 2 Nos. 1 No.
gauges
2. Torch (burner) complete 2 Nos. 1 No.
3. Torch (burner) keys 1 No. 1 No.
4. Torch (burner) stand 2 Nos. 1 No.
5. Goose neck attachment to vaporiser 4 Nos. 2 Nos.
C Oxy-LPG pre-heating
1. Oxy-LPG torch (burner) 2 Nos. 1 No.
2. Oxygen cylinder with pressure gauge 2 Nos. 1 No.
3. LPG cylinder with pressure gauge 2 Nos. 1 No.
4. Torch (burner) stand 2 Nos. 1 No.
5. Connecting hose pipe 4 Nos. 2 Nos.
5.2 Other equipments
Quantity
Sr.
Description Mass Repair
No.
Welding Welding
1. Crucible complete 2 Nos. 1 No.
2. Crucible caps 2 Nos. 1 No.
3. Crucible forks 2 Nos. 1 No.
4. Crucible stands 2 Nos. 1 No.
5. Crucible rings 2 Nos. 1 No.
6. Mould pressure (clamp) 2 Sets 1 Set
7. Cleaning rod round 2 Nos. 1 No.
8. Tapping rod 1 No. 1 No.
9. Straight edge 1 m long 2 Nos. 1 No.
10. Straight edge 10 cm long 2 Nos. 1 No.
11. Aluminium/ steel rod for thermal 2 Nos. 2 Nos.
plugging
12. Leather washers for pump 4 Nos. 2 Nos.
13. Gap gauges and height gauge 2 Nos. 1 No.
14. Filler gauge 2 Nos. 1 No.
15. Tools for punching the marking 2 Sets 1 Set
16. Mould shoes 6 Pairs 2 Pairs
17. Stop watch 1 No. 1 No.
18. Pyrometer/thermal chalk for 1 No. 1 No.
measurement of rail temperature
19. Wooden wedges for rail alignment 24 Nos. 12 Nos.
20. First aid box filled with medicines, 1 No. 1 No.
bandages, cotton etc
21. Mirror 150 x 100 mm with handle 2 Nos. 1 No.

22. Tool box

Hot sets (chisels) for emergency use 2 Nos. 2 No.
Funnel tin for pouring petrol 1 No. 1 No.
Adjustable spanner 1 No. 1 No.
Hammer 1 kg 1 No. 1 No.
Sledge hammer double panel 5 kg 2 Nos. 2 Nos.
Steel wire brush 1 No. 1 No.
Blue goggles 2 pairs 1 pair
Paint brush 50 mm 1 No. 1 No.
Slag container (bowl) 2 Nos. 1 No.
Asbestos gloves 4 pairs 2 pairs
Hose clips 4 Nos. 4 Nos.
Pliers 1 No. 1 No.
Rail file 350 x 40 x 6 mm for 4 Nos. 2 Nos.
emergency use
23 Weld trimmer 1 No. 1 No.
24. Insulation hood for control cooling for 1 No. 1 No.
110 UTS rail welding
25. Rail profile guided grinding trolley 1 No. 1 No.
26. Protective clothing, shoes gear & leather gloves
***

Go to index
CHAPTER - 6
Process of SKV Welding

6.0 Process
Detailed process of AT welding of rails with short pre-heating

process are as under :
6.1 Preliminary work
 In case of in-situ welding the rail fastenings for at least five

sleepers on either side of the proposed weld shall be loosened.
The sleepers adjacent to the joint to be welded shall be shifted
to obtain a clear working space of 250 mm on either side to
accommodate the moulds, clamps, preheating equipment etc.
 In case of welding on cess, full rail length shall be leveled by

supporting on atleast ten wooden blocks on either side. The
rails shall be properly aligned in horizontal and vertical
direction and held in position.
6.2 Preparation of rail ends
The rail end face and adjacent sides at foot (top and bottom), web
and head upto 50 mm shall be thoroughly cleaned using kerosene
oil and brushing with wire brush to remove all dirt, grease and
rust before welding. Any burrs at the rail ends shall be removed
by chiseling/ grinding.

6.3 Gap between rail ends
 The two rail ends to be welded shall be held in position with a

uniform and vertical gap as per particular welding technique :
SKV welding
25 ± 1mm
(60 kg, 52 kg, 90 R, 75 R rail)
Wide gap welding 50 ± 1/
(60 kg, 52 kg rail) 75 ± 1 mm
Combination weld joint
48 to 50 mm
(60 kg/52 kg rail, 52 kg/90 R rail)
 The uniformity and verticality of the gap shall be measured by

a gauge prior to welding.
 In LWR/CWR territory, hydraulic/ mechanical rail tenser

should be used for maintaining correct rail gap during
welding.
 Gap between rail ends shall be rechecked after completion of

alignment. Datum marks shall be made on foot of both rails as
well as on joint sleepers to observe any longitudinal
movement of rails. If excessive longitudinal movement occurs
during pre-heating and produces a welding gap outside the
prescribed limits, the welding of joint shall be temporarily
abandoned and joint allowed to cool.
6.4 Alignment of rail ends
The rail ends to be welded shall be aligned in horizontal and

vertical planes to the dimensional limits as under :

 Lateral alignment
The two rail ends, after alignment shall be within ±0.5 mm when
checked by one meter straight edge at rail ends. Any difference in
the width of railheads shall always be fully kept on the non-gauge
side, correctly aligning the rail ends on the gauge face.
Tolerance for lateral misalignment
 Vertical alignment
The joint shall be kept higher by 3 to 4 mm for 72 UTS rails and 2

to 2.4 mm for higher UTS rails with the help of wedges applied
on the rail supporting blocks on both sides of the joint, when
measured at the end by one meter straight edge (as a
compensation against sagging caused by differential shrinkage on
cooling).

Tolerance for vertical misalignment
6.5 Fixing of mould
 During fixing the prefabricated moulds, it shall be ensured

that the centre line of the rail gap coincides with the centre
line of the mould to avoid cross-joint. The mould jackets/
shoes holding the pre-fabricated mould in a snug fit condition,
after fixing, shall be tightened by the application of adequate
pressure. It is essential for the moulds to fit flush to each other
across the bottom of the rail flange, which can be checked by
feeling with fingers across the junction of the two halves of
the moulds and by looking down the riser aperture. The
moulds should touch the bottom of rail foot to ensure proper
size of collar at the bottom.
 After fixing the moulds, the gap between mould and the rail
shall be packed firmly with luting sand to prevent leakage of
liquid weld metal.
 To protect the rail top table from metal splashes during

reaction, the adjacent rail surface on either side of the moulds
shall be covered with metal cover or smeared with luting sand
upto 15 cm on either side.

6.6 Preheating
 After fixing and luting of the moulds, the rail ends shall be
uniformly pre-heated throughout the rail section with air
petrol/compressed air petrol/ oxygen-LPG burner. The flame
shall be properly adjusted to achieve the desired rail
temperature. The pre-heating shall be done from the top of the
mould box for stipulated period (10 to 12 minutes, 4.0 to 4.5
minutes and 2 to 2.5 minutes for air-petrol, compressed air-
petrol and Oxy-LPG preheating techniques respectively
depending upon the rail section and welding technique
adopted) for achieving a temperature of around 600º ± 20ºC.
 For AT welding with air-petrol pre-heating technique, the

compressor tank pressure during pre-heating operation shall
be maintained at 7 ± 0.70 kg/cm2 (100 ± 10 lb./inch2). For AT
welding with compressed air-petrol pre-heating technique,
should be in range of 0.2 to 0.3 Kg/cm2. In case of pre-heating
by Oxy-LPG process, pressure for oxygen and LPG cylinders
shall be adjusted in the range of 7.0-8.0 kg/cm2 and 2.0-2.5
kg/cm2 respectively.
 Special emphasis shall be given to the tank pressure,

efficiency of burner and flame condition for achieving
required rail temperature within the stipulated time. From time
to time or in case of any doubt with a view to maintain proper
quality control, temperature measuring devices like optical
pyrometer, contact type pyrometer or temperature indicating
crayons may be used for measuring rail end temperature just
after completion of preheating i.e. after removal of burner.

6.7 Welding
 The crucible lined with refractory material (magnetite/crushed

alumina slag) and fitted with bottom stone and thimble shall
be preheated before making the first weld of the day to ensure
freedom from moisture.
 Crucible shall be positioned relative to the pouring gate with

respect to its height from the mould after it has been placed on
the stand mounted on the railhead. The tap hole in the crucible
shall be sealed with closing pin, asbestos powder and slag
power. The portion shall be thoroughly hand mixed and
poured into the crucible striking the crucible wall so that the
bottom plugging remains undisturbed.
 After preheating the rail joint, the sparkler shall be ignited and
inserted in the portion at the centre top to start the reaction.
The reaction shall not be vigorous or boiling. By the time the
reaction is complete, the burner shall be removed quickly and
the gap closed with a dried sand core in case of central
pouring. Thereafter, the molten steel shall be tapped within
17-23 seconds into the mould by striking the closing pin with
a tapping rod. When pouring is over, the crucible and swivel
stand shall be removed and kept aside without disturbing the
joint.
 If the reaction is found to be boiling, the metal shall be out

tapped. Vigorous reaction and loose closing of crucible may
cause self-tapping. In this case also, the metal shall be out
tapped. If self-tapped metal enters the mould, the joint shall be
rejected, cut and re-welded. In cases of out tapping, the joint

should be cooled to ambient temperature and the process of

welding restarted a fresh.
 After pouring, molten metal shall be allowed to cool and

solidify with mould intact for the stipulated time (mould
waiting time) depending upon the rail section and ambient
temperature. The mould shoes shall be removed just prior to
completion of mould waiting time. The mould waiting time is
generally 4 - 6 minutes for 25 mm gap joints and 12 minutes
for 75 mm gap joints.
 After the mould waiting time has elapsed, the trimming

should be done by using weld trimmer of suitable and
approved design without knocking out the mould. In case of
welding of old rails, if it is not possible to use weld trimmer
due to flow of metal at railhead, manual chipping should be
done.
 During the trimming operation, it shall be ensured that the

wedges used in aligning are in their proper places without
loosening, and they are not removed for at least 20 minutes
after stripping. The runner and riser must not be removed until
cold, and that too only by knocking towards the rail.
 No welding shall be carried out if it is raining. In case, the

rains start while the joint is under execution, immediate
arrangement to adequately cover the site shall be made.

6.8 Post weld cooling
 110 UTS alloy steel rail joints (chrome manganese and

chrome vanadium type) are cooled slowly immediately after
trimming by fixing an insulation hood lined with asbestos, so
as to control the cooling rate of the weld zone. The hood must
be kept around the joint for at least 20 minutes.
Details of Insulation Hood
 In case of welding of head hardened rails, the average

hardness of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the rail becomes
considerably less than the parent rail hardness, which may
cause localised cupping due to differential plastic deformation
during wheel rail contact. Hence, head hardened rails must be
subjected to controlled quenching for a specific time by the
arrangement approved for the technique.

6.9 Passing of traffic
 The first train should be allowed to pass on the newly welded

joint only after 30 minutes have elapsed since pouring of weld
metal. Necessary speed restriction shall be observed until the
grinding operation is over.
 Before the passage of traffic, the wedges used for aligning

should be removed and joint sleepers, which were shifted to
obtain the clear gap of 250 mm on either side, shall be re-
shifted to the original location and repacked the same gently
and carefully.
6.10 Grinding
 After the excess metal is trimmed off, the grinding of the

remaining metal on the rail table and the sides of the railhead
shall be carried out only with rail profile guided grinding
trolley of approved design.
 Hand files should not be used, except in unavoidable

circumstances.
 In the case of in-situ joints, the grinding shall commence only

after the sleeper fastenings are re-fixed, after the removal of
wedges. The rail table shall first be ground down to original
profile and checked by a one metre straight edge. This should
be followed by grinding of the sides of railhead. The accuracy
of grinding shall be checked by using 10 cm straight edge.
***

Go to index
CHAPTER - 7
Post Welding Operations

7.1 Visual inspection of welds
All the welded joints shall be examined carefully to detect any

visible defects like cracks, blowholes etc. Any joint, which shows
any visible defect, should be rejected.
7.2 Dimensional check
All finished joints shall be checked for dimensional tolerances,

which should be within the tolerances as given below:
 Vertical alignment
Variation not more than +1.0 mm, -0 mm measured at the end by

one metre straight edge.
Tolerance for vertical misalignment

 Lateral alignment
Variation not more than ± 0.5 mm measured at centre by one

metre straight edge.
Tolerance for lateral misalignment
 Finishing of top surface
+ 0.4 mm, -0 mm measured at the end by 10 cm straight edge.
Tolerance for finishing top table of welded joint
 Head finishing on sides
± 0.3 mm over gauge side of the railhead measured at the centre

by 10 cm straight edge.

Tolerance for finishing on sides of head of welded joint
In specific cases, for joint geometry, in case of old rails,

dispensations may be permitted by Chief Engineer.
7.3 Ultrasonic testing of welds
 All the AT welds shall be ultrasonically tested as early as

possible but in any case before the welding team leaves the
welding site.
 The number of defective welds shall not exceed 2 of the

total number of joints welded against a particular contract.
 Thermit weld done in-situ shall be joggle fish-plated with two

clamps till tested as good by USFD.
7.4 Record of joint geometry
 The details of geometry of each joint shall be recorded and

jointly signed by the firm's and railway's representative and
kept as record.
 Any joint found not conforming to the above stipulations shall

be cut and re-welded, free of cost, by the firm.

7.5 Marking
 Each joint shall be marked, indicating month, year, agency,

welder's code and weld number of the welded joint, in the
following manner :
** ** *** *** ***

Month Last two Agency Specific Weld
digit of year person no. no.
 Marking shall be done by punching on an aluminium strip of

suitable thickness and size 30mm X 100mm, which shall be
fixed to the web of the rail with epoxy adhesive at about
300mm from the joint immediately after welding.
 The welded joints shall be serially numbered in a kilometer.

Repair welds/additional welds done at a later date may be
given continuing weld number in that kilometer.
 No punch marking should be done on the rail.
7.6 Painting of weld collar
 Painting of weld collar should be done on all the welds to

protect them against corrosion immediately after the welding.
 In service, painting of thermit welds should be carried as per

following frequency :
o Once in four years in areas not prone to corrosion.

o Every year at locations prone to corrosion.
The frequency may be increased by the Territorial CE/CTE

depending on the site condition.
7.6.1 Painting procedure for new welds
 In normal areas
After surface preparation, one coat of ready mixed paint, brushing

bituminous black conforming to IS: 9862-1981 is applied on the
welded area upto 10 cms on either side. After eight hours drying,
also a second coat of the same paint is applied.
 In corrosion prone areas
After surface preparation, one coat of high build epoxy paint (two
pack) conforming to RDSO specification No. M&C/PCN-
111/88 is applied on the welded area up to 10 cm on either side.
****

Go to index
CHAPTER – 8
Thermit Weld Register
8.0 Thermit Weld Register
Permanent Way Inspector in overall charge of the section shall

maintain a Thermit Weld Register detailing the record of thermit
welds in his section.
Instructions for the maintenance of thermit weld register are as

under :
 Whenever any thermit welding work is done, either on

account of track renewal or due to destressing/weld fracture
repairs, the register shall be handed over to the Permanent
Way Inspector in charge of thermit welding who shall, in turn,
make the entries current and thereafter return the register to
the Permanent Way Inspector in overall charge of the section.
 Permanent Way Inspector in overall charge of the section
shall ensure that the register is current and upto date at all
times.
 When Thermit welding is done by a construction organisation
of the railway, this register shall be handed over to the open
line authorities at the time of handing over of the railway line.
 On the first page of the register the Permanent Way Inspector
shall maintain a detailed record of Supervisors and Welders
with reference to their identification code such as name,

agency/organisation, competency certificate details, validity

date of competency certificate etc.
 The welded joints shall be serially numbered in a Kilometre
and entry made in column No. 7 of the Proforma. Repair
welds/additional welds done at a later date may be given
continuing weld number in that kilometre. For example, if the
last thermit weld number in a particular kilometre was 88 and
subsequently a thermit weld has been executed, it shall be
numbered 89, irrespective of it’s location in that kilometre.
 If a Thermit weld is removed for any reason (e.g. replacement
of rail), it’s corresponding entry in the weld register shall be
deleted.
 The serial number column of the proforma will be serially
continued during a year. This no. and date (adjacent column)
will give reference to any particular entry in the register. Such
cross-references are required to be given for re-welding
reference (column 14) wherever necessary.
 After every 100 joints, information of test joint shall be
recorded as per details at columns 13 to 15.
 Month, Year, Welder code and weld number shall be punched
on the web of the rail in the vicinity of the joint.
 Separate pages can be earmarked in weld register for every
kilometre.
 In the event of weld failure, a cross-reference i.e. Sr. No. and
date as per weld register entry for the weld shall invariably be
given in the Permanent Way Inspector’s Section register.

 Entry on USFD testing in column 11 is only for initial test

soon after welding and not for periodical USFD testing.
However, if a weld requires replacement based on periodical
USFD test, this shall be considered as failure of weld and
suitable entries made in column 12.
 In the proforma, ‘A’ indicates as alphabet entry and ‘9’
indicates a number entry.
Proforma for Thermit Weld Register
Sr. Date of Location details Rail Bolt hole

No. welding distance(mm)
Block Cess/ Km UP/ Left/
Section UTS
Station Situ TP DN Right
1 2 3 4
999 99/99/99 AAAA AAA 9999 A A AAAA 999 999
Portion details Welding details

Agency Batch Portion Date of Agency Process Super Welder
code No. No. manufacturing code visor code
code
5 6
AA 99999 999999 99/99/99 AA AAA AA999 AA999
Weld Block time Date of Dimensional tolerance on USFD testing

No. finish finished joint after welding
From To grinding On 1 m On 10 cm Date Result
Lateral Vertical Top Side (Pass/Fail)
7 8 9 10 11
999 9999 9999 99/99/99 +99 +99 +99 +99 99/99/99 A
In service failure Test joint Replacement weld reference Signature

details date of PWI
Failure removed Weld 1 Weld 2 Welding
Date Type S. No. Date S. No. Date
12 13 14 15
99/99/99 AAAA 99/99/99 99999 99/99/99 99999 99/99/99
Date of Test joint results

sending Date of Hardness (BHN) Transverse load Porosity Date of Rem
test joint receipt of Rail Weld HAZ Load Deflection (%) marking arks
with results (t) (mm) 'X' for
reference with ref. extended
guarantee
16 17
***

Go to index
CHAPTER – 9
Sample Test Joint
9.1 Sample Test Joint
 One out of every 100 joints welded shall be selected randomly

within one month of welding and tested for hardness,
transverse load / deflection tests and porosity as per
Specification IRS: T-19-1994.
 If the sample test joint fails to satisfy any of the requirements

of specification IRS:T-19-1994, further welding may be
suspended by the Railway.
 However, two more randomly selected joints from the same

lot of 100 joints shall be retested. Both the joints should clear
all the tests. If this report is also not satisfactory, further
welding of joints shall be suspended until the firm's welding
technique has been examined and the same satisfies the
requirements of specification IRS: T-19-1994. The clearance
for recommencement of welding shall be given by RDSO.
9.2 Guarantee
 Rail joints welded by a firm shall be guaranteed against

failure for a period of two years from the date of welding the
joints in track or from the date such welded joints made 'in
cess' are inserted in the track. Any such welded joint which
fails within the guarantee period shall be re-welded free of
cost by firm.
 In case of failure of sample test joint, the period of guarantee

for 100 joints represented by the sample joint shall be
extended for a further period of one year. In case of failure of
joints or joints exhibiting signs of failure by cracking within
extended period of guarantee, the joints shall be re-welded
free of cost by the supplier.
 The welded joints with the extended period of guarantee shall

be marked 'X' with yellow paint on the outer side of the web
of the rail near the joint in addition to the marking. Such
marked joints shall be kept under careful observation.
***

Go to index
CHAPTER - 10
Precautions During Welding
 Portion should match with type and chemistry of rail.

 Pressure in the tanks/cylinder should be properly maintained
during pre-heating.
 Correct gap between rail ends at head, web and foot shall be
ensured.
 Rail ends should be square.
 Alignment of rail ends should be perfect as checked by straight
edge.
 Rail ends should be properly cleaned with kerosene oil and
wire brushes.
 Correct preheating time for rail ends shall be ensured.
 Tightness of clips fitted with hose connections to compressor
tank and burner shall be checked before preheating.
 Nozzles of burners shall be cleaned periodically to avoid
backfire.
 The compressor tank shall be kept at least 2 to 3 m away from
the burner to prevent fire hazard.
 The tapping shall be done within the time specified for that
particular technique.
 Boiling portion shall be out tapped.
 No moist/ torned portion bag shall be used for welding.

 Damp moulds should not be used which can lead to porosity
and early fatigue failure of welds.
 Arrangements for giving first aid shall be available at site.
 Welders should be provided with gloves and coloured glasses.
 Many weld failures show evidence of badly cut rail ends.
Portable disc cutters may be used for cutting of rails to produce
good cut.
 Only those contractual agencies as have clearance from the
RDSO/Railway Board can execute welding work. Supply of
portions must be from sources approved by RDSO/ Railway
Board.
 Welding shall be supervised by trained welding supervisor and
carried out by trained welder having valid competency
certificate from RDSO/TPP, Lucknow.
 A welding supervisor shall supervise not more than two
welding teams deployed within 50 m distance at a time.
***

Go to index
CHAPTER - 11
Major Defects in AT Welding
11.0 Major Defects in AT Welding
The common defects in thermit welds due to deficiency in

execution are as under:
a) Lack of Fusion
(i) Causes
 Improper cleaning of rail ends.

 Inadequate or non-uniform pre-heating.
 Inadequate or non-uniform gap.
 Delayed tapping.
This is serious defects and makes the weld weak.
(ii) Preventive Action
 Maintain the welding gap between rail ends specified in

the approved parameters of the technique. Never attempt
to weld a gap, which is too wide, with standard mould.
 Take care to centralise the mould to the gap. Never try to

fit both mould halves simultaneously.

 Take care to fit mould both vertical and central to the weld
gap. Do not incline mould to the vertical.
 Do not try to weld worn to new rail, or rails dissimilar

depth with standard mould.
 Rail ends should be properly cleaned.
 The tapping shall be done within the time specified for

that particular technique.
 Special care shall be given to the tank pressure, efficiency

of burner and flame condition for achieving required rail
temperature within the stipulated time.
Failure due to lack of fusion

b) Slag inclusion
(i) Causes
 Early tapping.
 Pouring without plug in position.
 After preheating fit the sand core with the riser aperture of
the mould and press down lightly.
 Ensure that the crucible is positioned centrally the over the
sand core and the crucible does not move during the
thermit reaction.
 Never allow the thermit steel to pour directly into either
pouring gate.
Failure due to slag inclusion

c) High porosity in weld metal (gross/local)

(i) Causes
 Use of damp crucible.

 Use of damp mould.
 Use of damp portion.
 Crucible must be pre-heated before first weld of the day to

remove any moisture.
 Damp portions and damp moulds should not be used in
welding.
Failure due to high porosity at web-foot junction

d) Sand Inclusion
(i) Causes
 Dropping of luting sand into mould.

 Broken pieces of mould getting into the mould.
Take care when sealing the mould with luting sand. It must
not be allowed to drop into the mould. If the welder is careful,
these defects can be easily avoided.
***

Go to index
 NOTES 

OUR OBJECTIVE
To upgrade Maintenance
Technologies and Methodologies and achieve
improvement in productivity and performance of
all Railway assets and manpower which inter-alia
would cover Reliability, Availability, and
Utilisation.
The contents of this handbook are for guidance only & are
not statutory. It also does not supersede any existing
instructions from Railway Board, RDSO and zonal Railways
& the provisions of IRPWM, AT Weld Manual on the
subject.
Contact person: Director (Civil)
Postal Address: Centre for Advanced

Maintenance Technology,
Maharajpur, Gwalior (M.P.)
Pin code – 474005
Phone : (0751) - 2470869, 2470803
Fax : (0751) - 2470841

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Maharajpur, Gwalior - 474 005 (INDIA)

The objective of this handbook is to provide basic

I am grateful to Shri Neeraj Shrivastava,

We welcome any suggestion for addition and

Sr. Description Page

The correction slips to be issued in future for this

Where “XX” is the serial number of the concerned

CORRECTION SLIPS ISSUED

Sr. No. Date Page no. and Remarks

Welding of rails is done mainly by three methods i.e. Gas

AT Weld failures continue to haunt the Indian Railways. These

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

1.1 Alumino-Thermic Welding

 In the alumino-thermic welding process, a mixture of

Fe2O3 + 2Al = Al2O3 + 2Fe + Heat

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

 Two types of alumino-thermic welding process are in use on

 The details of conventional welding and SKV welding process

S. Description Conventional SKV welding

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

 Rails shall be tested before welding, with ultrasonic flaw

 Rails with excessive scabbing, wheel burns, corrugations and

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

 The rolling marks on the web of rails shall be checked before

 In case of repair of fractured rail/defective weld with wide gap

 No alumino-thermic welded joint shall be located closer than

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

2.2 Second hand rails

 The Chief Track Engineer shall satisfy himself that second

 Second hand rails shall be match-marked before releasing

 Kinks in the rails shall be removed before welding.

 Rails shall be free from corrosion or excessive wear.

The limit of lateral wear in the railhead as given above, viz. 6 mm

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

 While using second hand rail panels for secondary renewal,

 The ends of second hand rails should be suitably cropped by

2.3 New rails

Rails to be welded shall conform to the tolerances as given below:

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

Material for AT Welding

 The quantity of mixture required for making one joint is

 The suitability of the portion for the welding process in

 Only RDSO certified/passed portions should be used for

 No specific shelf life has been indicated for AT welding

 The portions beyond two years after the date of manufacturing

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

 In case the reaction is found to be quiet or boiling, a test joint

3.2 Prefabricated Moulds

 Prefabricated high sillica sand (CO2 dried) moulds supplied by

 The pre-fabricated moulds are to be supplied in sets, so that

 Moulds should be free from defects, dampness, cracks,

 The moulds should have adequate permeability for escape of

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

Staff for AT Welding

4.0 Staff for AT Welding (Compressor tank-wise)

The composition of welding team has been framed taking

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

Equipments for SKV Welding

5.1 Pre-heating equipment

5.2 Other equipments

Quality Assurance for AT Welding February - 2007

22. Tool box