RAIL WHEEL FACTORY

 Rail Wheel Factory (earlier known as Wheel and Axle Plant) is situated in
Bangalore, India.
 It is a state-of-the-art plant, meeting bulk of the requirement of wheels, axles
and wheel sets for the Indian Railways.
 The spare capacity available is profitably utilized to meet the domestic
demands for non-railway customers and exports.
 All products are subjected to stage and final inspection, starting from the
chemical composition of the molten metal till the final inspection.
 This includes micro/macro properties of the material, Magnetic Particle
Testing, Ultrasonic Testing, Hardness, warpage, dimensional parameters,
surface finish etc.
 Adopt the cast wheel technology developed by M/S Griffin Wheel CO.,
USA for wheel manufacture.
 American Railroads have been using cast wheels for freight operations
while European Railways use forged wheels. Adoption of cast wheel
technology was found more suitable as the productivity of the plant is higher
and cost of production lower as compared to forged wheels.
 The net saving in foreign exchange on wheel imports was estimated at Rs.8
Crores per annum.
 Undertake axle forging on special purpose Long Forging Machine followed
by heat treatment furnaces with automated conveyors for movement of
 Provide axle-machining facilities incorporating profile copying lathes,
special purpose end machining equipment and a wheel set assembly
complex with integrated engineering for handling and movement of axles.
Wheels

RWF manufactures cast steel wheels by a controlled pressure pouring process. In this process,
the raw material used is pedigree scrap (old used wheelsets, axles etc, rejected as unfit for use
by the Railways). The scrap steel is melted in Ultra High Frequency Electric Arc furnace. The
correct chemistry of molten metal steel is established through a Spectrometer. The wheels are
eventually get cast in the graphite moulds, which are pre-heated and sprayed. After allowing for
a pre-determined setting time the mould is spilt and the risers are automatically separated from
the cast wheel.
The wheel is then subjected to various heat treatments. The wheel undergoes the process of cleaning,
checking, peening and various stages of inspections. The wheel produced by this process requires no
machining except the precession boring of heats central hole (hub) where the axle has to be fitted.
Axles
RWF buys high-quality vacuum-degassed steel blooms from large-scale steelmakers. Axles are
manufactured from billets cut from the blooms. These blooms are forged in a precision long-forging
machine supplied from M/s GFM, Austria. The billets are heated in a rotary hearth furnace to forging
temperatures. Billets then forged in axles on a special purpose long forging machine. The forged axles are
gas cut to required length. The axles are heat treated through various heat treatment process. The
physical properties are confirmed before machining of the axles. The forged axles are machined on
various machines. The operations include end machining, rough turning, finish turning, machining centers,
grinding and burnishing. Internationally standardized tests (ultrasonic, magnetic particle, etc.) are used to
confirm the quality of the axles.
Wheel Sets
The assembly of wheel sets is done on a highly automated wheel assembly complex. The wheel seat size of
the axles is measured on an automated measuring unit and the dimensions are transferred to two wheel
borers. Paired wheels are custom bored as per the wheel seat size to get correct interference fit. The wheels
are then pressed on axle in a 300 T Wheel press.

SCRAP:
 The scrap used here is old wheels ,axles ,wheel and axle set used by Indian
railways and some waste generated during machining .the scrap is classified into 2
types

1.heavy melting scrap

2.light melting scrap

The wheel ,axle and wheel and axle set used in railways from different parts
of the country are bought and dumped in the scrap yard

The wheel and axle scrap come under heavy melting scrap

And the other waste materials generated during maching come under light
melting scrap.

The wheel is cut into 7 segments i.e 5 pieces round and 2 pieces up and the
axle is cut into 8 segments before it is sent for melting

The wheels and axles are cut using gas cutting which uses oxygen and
dissolved acetalyne

The scrap is then taken to the melting section where they are melted and re
used in making railway wheels.

The steps followed in generating a wheel are as follows

The wagon gets the scrap from the scrap yard and charges the bucket which
in turn charges the furnaces

The furnace is then closed and the melting process is carried on

The furnace is maintained at a temperature of about 1720c

After the metal is melted the furnace is opened and the some amount of
metal is removed for tapping process

Later the molten metal is placed in a pit called john mohr pit

The cope and drag are assembled

 The molten metal is then poured into the cope and drag assembly by
supplying certain pressure

The pouring process takes place at 1600c

Next the splitting process takes place where the cope and drag are spilt

The wheel then got is at a temperature of 500c

Later the wheel is subjected to heat treatment to relieve any stress present

Then the wheels are quenched

Again vertical heat treatment is done where the temperature is about 400c

And up quenching is done

The wheels are then unloaded and cooled to atmospheric temperature

Then it is sent to wheel final processing shop

Where it is loaded

Apex grinding is done

Cleaning to remove scales

Magna testing to check for surface defects

Ultrasonic testing to check for internal defects

Brinell hardness test to check for external defects

if there is defects it is sent back

warpage checking is done

peening

up boring

the wheel then goes for final inspection and wheel dimensions are checked

if it passes the inspection it is sent to assembly

Some of the types of wheels manufactured in rail wheel factory are:

1 boxn

2 bgc

3 blca

4 bgloco

5emu

6 mgc

7 chb
MANUFACTURING PROCESS AT A GLANCE
Rail Wheel Factory manufactures wheels, axles and wheel sets.
1. Wheel Manufacturing process
Wheel manufacturing facility was set up in RWF with complete technology transfer from M/s.
Griffin Wheel Company, which is a subsidiary of Amsted Industries USA. The parabolic / deep-
dish design of wheel developed by M/s Griffin is a low stress wheel with the advantage of a high
strength to weight ratio. M/s Griffin’s patented process of Controlled Pressure Pouring is used for
wheel casting.
The techni7cal support from M/s Griffin continued till 1991. Thereafter, RWF is independently pursuing
manufacture and technological improvements, including development of new designs of wheels.
The Plant utilizes Railway scrap as raw material. The scrap is melted in three Electric Arc furnaces.
The chemistry of the molten metal is precision controlled using Computerized Spectrometers. This
enables precise control of steel composition during steel making for obtaining optimum metallurgical
characteristics needed for tough service and long life.
The casting is done in graphite moulds, which are precision-machined using forming tools. This ensures
that all wheels are cast to the same dimensions and tolerances. The Controlled Pressure Pouring
Process is employed for casting. The molten metal ladle is placed in a chamber and sealed with an
airtight cover. A ceramic pouring tube is attached to the cover. Compressed air, forced into the chamber,
pushes the steel up through the pouring tube and into the graphite mould positioned over the tube. The
steel fills the mould from bottom to form the wheel. As the steel is forced into the mould at a controlled
rate, the wheel is cast to extremely close tolerances.
The wheels as cast are normalized in a huge rotary hearth furnace to improve metallurgical structure and
relieve internal stresses. Quenching of the rim and tread area is done to increase their hardness. The
wheels are shot-peened to induce compressive stresses so that the cast wheels do not fail due to crack
propagation in service. Each wheel is subjected to magnetic particle testing for surface flaws and
ultrasonically tested for internal flaws to ensure maximum reliability.
2. Axle manufacturing process
Axles are manufactured from billets cut from blooms supplied by reputed indigenous Steel Plants.
The billets are heated in a Rotary Hearth Furnace to forging temperatures. They are then
forged on a Special Purpose Long Forging Machine having multiple hammers. The long forging
machine was procured from M/s. GFM, Austria. The machine is capable of forging axle to close
tolerances in one-heat shaping in under 5 minutes. The forged axle is gas cut to required length,
number stamped and then heat treated under controlled conditions to obtain axle forgings meeting the
desired metallurgical and physical properties. Two years back, the Long Forging Machine was upgraded
with Computerized Numerical Controls for better precision and quicker set up changes for forging a
variety of axles of different designs.
The forged axles are machined on a battery of Farrell machines supplied by M/s. HMT Ltd, India.
The operations include end machining, rough turning and finish turning which are carried out on hydraulic
copying lathes, multiple operation axle machining centers and grinding / burnishing machines. A concept
of integrated engineering has been adopted for handling and transfer of axles from machine to machine,
which facilitates the flow of axles.
All axles are subjected to ultrasonic testing and magnetic particle testing for ensuring zero defect products
of the highest quality.
3. Wheel set Assembling Process
The assembly of wheel sets is done on a highly automated Wheel Assembly Complex. The wheel seat
size of the axles is measured on an automated measuring unit and the dimensions are transferred to two
wheel borers. Paired wheels are custom bored as per the wheel seat size to get correct interference fit.
The wheels are then pressed on the axle in a 300T Farrell Wheel Press. The Wheel Press Complex is
capable of pressing 180 wheel sets per day. A new Wheel Assembly Complex, with a capacity to produce
up to 300 wheel sets per day, has been procured from M/s. Simmons Machine Tools Corporation
(SMTC), USA. The new complex is under pre-commissioning checks and trials.