ALUMINO

THERMIC
WELDING
CODES & MANUALS

 Manual For Fusion Welding Of Rails By

Alumino Thermic Process (September-
1998)

 Indian Railway Standard Specification For

Fusion Welding Of Rails By Alumino
Thermic Process (Irs-t-19-1994)
 CHEMICAL REACTION

 3Fe3O4+8Al=4Al2O3+9Fe
(3088OC,719Kcal)

 3FeO+2Al=Al2O3+3Fe (2500OC, 187Kcal)

 Fe2O3+2Al=Al2O3+2Fe (2960OC, 181Kcal)

COMPETENCY CERTIFICATE
 WELDING 72 UTS & 90 UTS WITH STD
GAP
 WIDE GAP WELDING
 110 UTS RAILS
 DEPARTMENTAL BY TPP
 FIRMS BY RDSO
 COMPETENCY TRAINING

Category Course Syllabi Periodicity Duration Agency

GM/ Initial TW-1 ----- 2 weeks TPP

Welder Course

GM/ Refresher TW-2 2 years 1 week TPP

Welder Course

JE, SE, Course for TW-3 Based on 1 week TPP

SSE Welding performan
(P.Way) Sup. ce
 PRECAUTIONS
 Trained welding supervisor
 Trained welder
 Supervisor for not more than two welding
team (with in 50 m)
 Portion matching type & chemistry
 End squareness & verticality
 Perfect alignment
 Perfect cleaning of ends
 PRECAUTIONS (contd..)
 Stop watch
 Pressure in the tanks
 Correct gap at head, web & foot
 Correct preheating time
 Cleaning of nozzles of burner
 Correct tapping & mold waiting time
 Gloves & colored glasses
 Don’t use damp mould
 PRECAUTIONS (contd..)

 Lateral wear >6mm

 No weld should lie within 4 m of any
other weld/fish plated joint

 Don’t use moist portion

 Approved agency, supplier

 WELDING MATERIALS
 The following weld materials are required in
sufficient quantities and have to be stored in a
secure and dry place:
◦THERMIT welding kits
◦ Welding portions & Sand Mould Units
◦ Luting sand for luting the moulds
◦ Igniters- Store igniters separate from the welding
portions never store together in the welding portion
containers.
◦ Multiple-Use crucibles
◦ Crucible thimbles
◦ necessary compressor with torch for pre heating
 STEPS OF WELDING
 Rail end preparation
 Rail end alignment
 Moulds preparation
◦ Mould selection
◦ Mould installation
◦ Mould packing (Luting)
 Choice of portion as per rail type and section
 Crucible assembly preparation
 Preheating of rail ends
 Ignition of welding portion in the crucible &
Tapping
 Mould waiting and stripping
 Finishing of welded joint
 SELECTION OF RAIL
 Rail wear (head & side ) should be within
permissible limits.
 Rail should be ultrasonically tested.
 Rail should not be twisted or warped.
 Rail ends should not be hogged or
battered.
 Rail should not be corroded.
 Rail ends should not be flame cut.
 No bolt holes within 40mm from the rail
ends.
 TOLERANCE FOR SELECTION OF RAIL FOR WELDING

LL CHECK

ALLIGNMENT
CHECK
 RAIL END PREPARATION
 50 mm to be cleaned
with wire-brush,
kerosene / petrol
 All burrs to be removed
 Bent/hogged/battered
rail ends to be cut away
 Cut should be vertical
and square
CUTTING OF RAILS
PREPARATORY WORK
 Rail fastenings for at-least five sleepers
on either side to be loosened
 Joint sleepers to be shifted to obtain
clear working space
 Rails to be aligned – horizontally and
vertically
◦ Vertical alignment with help of wedges.
 Any difference in lateral alignment to be
kept on non-gauge side
GAP

 Should be uniform
 To be rechecked after completion of
alignment
 Consequences of less gap
 Consequences of excess gap
PREPARATION OF RAIL ENDS
Gap between rail ends(vertical and
uniform)
Normal welds –24 to 26mm
Combination welds – 49 to 51mm
Wide gap welds – 74 to 76mm
Note – Rail tensor to maintain gap
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PREPARATION OF RAIL ENDS
50mm on either side cleaned with
k.oil and cotton
Burrs to be chipped
Distance between any two joints not
less than 4m
Gap between rail ends
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PREPARATION OF RAIL ENDS(contd.)
At least 250mm clearance on either side of
weld location for mould fixing and luting
At least 5 sleepers fastenings made free on
either side before welding to reduce residual
stress
In case of cess welding, at least 10 supports
on either side to reduce deflection

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PREPARATION OF RAIL ENDS(contd.)
Vertical alignment – 3 to 4mm higher
for 710 grade rails and 2 to 2.4 mm
higher for 880 grade rails (measured at
the end of 1m straight edge )
Lateral alignment – +0.5mm to –0.5mm
(measured at the centre of 1m straight
edge )

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ALIGNMENT OF RAILS

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FIXING PREFABRICATED MOULDS
• Moulds fragile, handle with care
• Centre of gap to coincide centre of
mould
• Mould halves to snug fit
• Bottom of rail flange to touch mould

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 MATERIAL : PREFABRICATED
MOULD

 To be supplied by
portion
manufacturer
 Should be intact
 Should be dry
 Vents should not
be blocked
FIXING OF MOULD

 To be fixed centrally w.r.t. gap

 Gap between mould and rail to be well
packed with luting sand
 After fixing, mould jacket / shoe to be
tightened.
MOULD FIXING
LUTING THE MOULDS
Luting sand with 6% moisture
content
Luting from bottom to top
Side rail top covered with metal
cover or smearing of sand

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PRE-HEATING

 3 Techniques :
◦ Air Petrol Mixture (10-12 minutes) ( 7+ .7
kg/cm2)
◦ Compressed Air Petrol Mix ( 4-4.5 minutes)
(.2-.3 kg/cm2 )
◦ Oxy – LPG Mix (2-2.5 minutes) (Oxygen 7-8
kg/cm2 & LPG 2-2.5 kg/cm2 )

 Pre-heating should be uniform

◦ Square cut
◦ Symmetrical placement of mould
◦ Burner to be placed centrally
PREHEATING OF RAILS
 Preheating of rail ends
Air -Petrol LPG & Oxygen Compressed air petrol

 Preheating • Preheating • Preheating

time – 10 to time –2 to
12 minutes
time –
2.5 minutes
 Pressure- 6.3 • 4 to 4.5
• Pressure in
to 7.7 minutes
kg/sq.cm LPG- 2 to 3
 Temperature-
kg/sq.cm
580 to 620 • Pressure in
degree OXY –7 to 8
centigrade kg/sq.cm8/28/2019 35
EQUIPMENT FOR AIR PETROL
MIX

OLD SYSTEM
EQUIPMENT FOR COMPRESSED
AIR PETROL MIX

NEW SYSTEM
PRE-HEATING CHECKS

 Tank Pressure
◦ Pressure gauge working?
 Stop Watch
 Cleaning of burner
 Cleaning of brass nozzle
◦ Replace brass nozzle after 50-60 joints
 CRUCIBLE
 Pre-heat before first weld
 Slag to be cleaned after each reaction
 Repair of crucible only with magnesite
powder or sodium silicate
 Keep the sparkler over conical shaped portion
top

 Close the crucible with cover

 Keep 50mm clearance between mould and

crucible

Crucible preparation
8/28/2019 40
 Lining- Magnesite / crushed alumina slag
 Bottom hole plugged with closing pin
 Asbestos powder layer over closing pin
 Slag powder over asbestos powder
 Preheat crucible to 250 degree centigrade
 Hand mix portion in the pack
 Pour the portion to the walls of crucible

Crucible preparation
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CRUCIBLE
 WELDING PORTION
 Shelf life ?
Should not be damaged
or damp
 Drying not permitted
 Proper Storage to avoid
Damage


Dampness

WELD PORTION (PROPORTION)
Approved by RDSO –ITC, Harshad,
Sagar and Rayban
Portion grade to match with rail grade
Twin pack to remain intact
Use portion within 2years from date of
manufacture without test
8/28/2019 44
 WELDING PROCESS
 Hand mix the portion
 Ensure 50 mm gap
between tap hole and sand
core / top of pouring gate
 Tapping
◦ After reaction subsides, allow
3 seconds for separation of
slag
◦ Lever tapping
◦ Consequences of early
tapping
◦ Consequences of late tapping.
 Turn the crucible & keep it over central opening

 After preheating, Ignite the sparkler

Ignition
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8/28/2019 47
 On ignition , reaction takes place
 Normal reaction – Continue welding
 Boiling/quite reaction – reject the portions

Reaction
8/28/2019 48
 Reaction + separation time – 17 to 23 sec
 keep sand core over mould central
opening
 After reaction and seperation, closing pin
tapped with tapping rod
 Self tap/turbulent flow to be outtapped

Tapping
8/28/2019 49
POURING THE METAL

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 TRIMMING AND GRINDING
 Mould to be removed after ‘mould
waiting time’
 Trimming by weld trimmers
 Wedges not to be removed for 20 min
after stripping
 Risers to be cut after cooling to
ambient temperature
 Grinding by profile grinder
 About 4-6 minutes
 After 4 minutes, mould jacket removed
without metal flow
 Top portion slag removed with shovel
 Remaining metal on rail top & sides removed
with weld trimmer/chisel

Mould waiting time

8/28/2019 53
ACCEPTANCE TEST
 VISUAL INSPECTION

 DIMENSIONAL CHECK

 USFD
 Finishing of AT welds
with rail profile grinder
Plane 1m straight 10cm remarks
edge straight
edge
Vertical +1mm +0.4 Measured at
ends

Lateral +or-0.5 +or-0.3 Measured at

centre

8/28/2019 58
FINISHING TOLERANCE
 PAINTING OF
WELD COLLAR

 NORMAL CORROSION (ONCE IN 4 Yrs)

◦ NEW JOINT (IS-9862-1981)
◦ OLD JOINT (IS-9862-1981 OR IRS-P-30-
1996)

 SEVERE CORROSION (EVERY YEAR AS

PER PARA 249(I) 0F IRPWM)
 NEW JOINT (M&C/PCN-111/88)
◦ OLD JOINT (M&C/PCN-111/88)
 USFD test for all welds
 Physical test of BHN,Porosity and load
deflection for one weld/100
 Guarantee of two years
 Guarantee of three years for two samples

Tests for AT welds

8/28/2019 61
SAMPLE TEST JOINT

 ONE OUT OF 100 JOINT RANDOMLY

(AS PER IRS-T-19-1994)
◦ HARDNESS
◦ TRANSEVERSE LOAD/DEFLECTION TEST
◦ POROSITY
 GUARANTEE
◦ FOR A MIN PERIOD OF 2 YRS
MISCELLANEOUS
 No AT Weld within 4 m of any other weld
or fish plated joint
 No welding if it is raining
 Rail surface on either side to be covered
by guards.
 Welding only by trained welder
MISCELLANEOUS
 First train after 30 min of pouring of weld
metal
 Before passage of train – remove wedges,
shift joint sleeper, pack shifted sleeper
 Painting of weld collar.
 LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

 AT WELDING WITH THREE PIECE MOULDS

 COMPRESSED AIR PETROL PREHEATING
SYSTEM
 COMBINATION JOINT & DIFFERENT GRADE
RAILS
 WIDE GAP (50mm, 75mm) WELDING
 ONE SHOT CRUCIBLE
 SELF TAPPING THIMBLE
THREE PIECE MOULDS

52 Kg 90 UTS
M/S HTI/RAIPUR FOR
REGULAR ADOPTION
IN THE FIELD
M/S ITC, KANPUR
UNDER
DEVELOPMENT
COMBINATION JOINT

60 Kg 90 UTS/52 Kg 90 UTS
APPROVED FOR M/s ITC
APPROVAL FOR M/s HTI/RAIPUR
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
WIDE GAP WELDING
Thank you