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Republic of Sudan
Ministry of High Education & Scientific Research

Nile Valley University

College of Post Graduate Studies

Rail Welding Technologies

Reported by/
Abdulhmeed Mohamed Elhassan Mahjoub Ali

November 2015
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Rail Welding Technologies

1 Introduction
Welding is a very important technology with respect to the installation of rails.
There are four widely used welding methods; flash-butt welding, thermite welding,
gas-pressure welding and enclosed-arc welding.
A rail joint section with an offset is subjected to mechanical shocks whenever
a train passes, influencing the running stability of the train. In order to alleviate such
mechanical shocks, long rails produced by welding rails are being installed across
the world. Today, the rail welding technology has become an extremely important
technology that is partly responsible for the safety of railways.

2 Methods of welding of rails and their features

2.1 Flash-butt welding
(1) Feature
This welding is completely automated and is used worldwide as a welding
method that provides high quality and high productivity. A plant flash-butt welder
is equipped with a transformer having a large capacity and a large hydraulic system.
A mobile flash-butt welder, a miniaturized lightweight type of welder, is also used.
(2) Welding process
This is a welding method wherein a voltage is applied across the
end faces of the rails butted to each other so that an electric discharge is produced in
succession through local contact, thereby
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heating and melting the end faces of rails. When the faces are completed
converted into a molten state, the rails are pressurized toward each other (upsetting),
and both ends are pressure-welded. The entire welding process consists of a
preheating process, flashing process, upsetting process, and trimming process.
Preheating process: This process is employed in plant flash-butt welder
equipped with a transformer of a large capacity, wherein the entire end faces of both
the rails are short-circuited with each other, and a very high current is made to flow
via electrodes. As the result thereof, the temperature increases at the weld section,
and thereby, in the subsequent process of flashing, the time required for both the
end faces to transform entirely into a molten state can be reduced.
Flashing process: Rails with a voltage applied across the end faces are made to
approach each other at a programmed speed, and local electric arc discharges are
repeatedly produced between the rail end faces; these discharges melt and preheat
the rail end faces.
Drops of molten rails are emitted outward by an electro-magnetic force. The
rail end portions in the neighborhood of welding are heated to a high temperature by
heat conduction in the longitudinal direction of rails. When the entire end faces are
completely melted, upsetting is applied. The rate of approach of the rail end faces is
0.1- 2.5 mm/s, and the length of the rail loss at the ends of both the rails is 10-20 mm
per rail. In the case of mobile flash-butt welding, since there is no preheating
process, the flashing time is set longer in order for the end faces to melt completely.
There are two sequences of preheating and flashing. In one, preheating is carried out
first, and in the other, flashing is separated into stages and preheating is carried out
in-between.
Upsetting process: Rails are pressure-welded by a load applied to the end faces
of the rails. Molten steel is discharged outward; the end portions near the end faces,
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which have been heated to a very high temperature, undergo plastic deformation,
and a bulge is formed. The unit pressurizing load is approximately 70 MPa, and
the total pressurizing load is 500-600 kN in the case of JIS 60-kg rail (unit weight:
60 kg/m). Upon upsetting, the rail shrinks by 15- 25 mm. Trimming process: The
bulge produced at the weld section is removed in the hot state by a hydraulically
operated trimmer equipped with a rail-profiled blade.
(3) Welding time
The welding time is 1.5-4 min.
(4) Equipment
The equipment consists of a transformer and electrodes, a pressurizing
apparatus, and a hydraulic trimming apparatus. When classified according to the
voltage waveform, there are two types of equipment used: one is of the AC type, and
the other is of the DC type and is equipped with a rectifying circuit. Recently, a DCtype flash-butt welder has mainly been employed for plant welding,
whereas an AC-type welder has mainly been used as a mobile flash-butt welder. In
the case of the AC-type equipment, the electric arc discharge is halted during the
periods of voltage changeover from positive to negative and vice versa. In contrast,
in the case of the DC-type equipment, continuous discharging is possible; therefore,
it is considered that higher stability is obtained in the flashing process by using a
DC-type welder. The miniaturization of a welder by using the DC-type equipment
is difficult as the welder requires a rectifying circuit; therefore, the application of the
DC-type equipment to a mobile flash-butt welder is difficult.
Further, in plant welding that does not have sufficient transformer capacity,
and/or in mobile flash-butt welding, in order to obtain efficient heating, certain
welders employ an AC pulse flash method where short-circuiting and flashing are
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repeated between both end faces cyclically in a very short time of one cycle.
(5) Weld quality
Macro-structure: In the weld section, there are two regions. One is the region
where the rail material is heated completely up to an austenite temperature region
(dark part) by welding, and the other is the region where the rail material is heated
to above the A1 point (approximately 720C) and to a two-phase region (white part)
that exists on both sides of the abovementioned region. These two regions are
collectively termed as the heat affected zone (HAZ). The width of the HAZ is
approximately 30-45 mm. Hardness distribution: The hardness at the center of the
weld section and in its neighborhood is less than the base material hardness of
approximately HV390 by approximately HV20. In order to obtain the hardness level
equivalent to the base metal level, and depending on the rail steel, some railway
companies apply accelerated cooling by means of blowing compressed air to the
weld section.
Further, at both sides of the HAZ, hardness is reduced; therefore,
these zones are called the softened zone.
(6) Latest technical trend
Whenever a train passes over a turnout, a rail is subjected to a strong shock
exerted by wheels; therefore, a material having excellent shock resistance is used.
At a crossing, which is a vital part of a turnout, high manganese austenite cast steel
is often used. The welding of this material and the rail steel is difficult. Therefore,
as a countermeasure, the manganese crossing rail is welded to stainless steel by
flash-butt welding in the first stage, and then, the stainless steel is welded to the rail
steel. This technology is practically employed. Further, the application of flash-butt
welding to repairing rails is being attempted. Usually, when a rail or a weld section
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has a certain kind of damage, several meters of the rail including the damaged
portion is replaced with a new rail, and both ends of the new rail are welded to the
existing rails. Aimed at shortening of the repair work time, a technology is being
developed for repairing the damage on the surface of a rail head without replacing
the rail. Flash-butt welding is applied from above to a steel piece that fits a V-shaped
groove, removing the damage on a rail head surface. With this method, the repair
work time can be significantly reduced.
2.2 Gas-pressure welding
(1) Feature
Gas-pressure welding is a pressure welding method, utilizing gas flame
for heating rails, and is widely employed in domestic plant welding and field
welding as a highly reliable rail welding method. In this method, the heating
work is done by a welding operator, where the operators skill is needed.
(2) Welding process
This is a welding method in which a joint section and its neighborhood are
heated by gas while the butted rail end faces are pressurized toward each other.
The welding process consists of a pressurizing and heating process, a forging
process, and a trimming process. As the closeness of contact of the to-bewelded faces significantly influences the weld quality, the end faces are
ground by specially installed grinders prior to welding. Pressurizing and
heating process: Heating is done while rails are pressurized toward each other
at their end faces. An oxygenacetylene gas is used for heating, and the
heating operation is carried out manually by a welding operator. The end faces
as the center of the weld section and their neighborhood are heated to a high
temperature, and the surface temperature around the end faces reaches as high
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as 1,200-1,300C finally. The pressure at the end faces remains usually

constant, 20-30 MPa, throughout the entire processing. The load is
approximately 180 kN in the case of JIS60 rail. Forging process: The rails
undergo plastic deformation around the end faces, and therefore, they shrink
in the longitudinal direction. Simultaneously, the rail end faces expand. The
rail ends are forged by this processing. The length lost because of the
shrinkage by forging is approximately 20-40 mm. Trimming process: A bulge
produced during the forging process is removed in a hot state by a trimmer
equipped with a rail- profiled blade and operated by a hydraulic system.
(3) Welding time
The welding time varies, depending on the profile of a rail. In
the case of the JIS60 rail, the welding time is 6-7 min.
(4) Equipment
The equipment consists of a gas heating apparatus, a pressurizing
apparatus, and a hydraulic trimming apparatus. For the sake of the
convenience of transportation to and from a track side site or a side track,
miniaturized equipment has been developed.
(5) Weld quality
The HAZ width of the gas-pressure-welded rails is approximately 100 mm
and is wider than that of a flash-butt welded rail. In the case of gas-pressure
welding, heating takes longer than in the case of flash-butt welding. Used as
the heat source, the flaming gas has a lower caloric value than the electric
energy that is employed in flash-butt welding. Further, in gas-pressure
welding, the amount of heat conducted to the base rail is larger than in flashbutt welding; therefore, the HAZ is widened further. Hardness distribution:
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As compared to the base rail hardness of around HV390, the as-weld HAZ
hardness is approximately HV330. Further, as the HAZ is wider, the softened
zone also becomes relatively wide. Therefore, in the case of the heat-treated
rails, in order to obtain the same hardness level as that of the base rail, a
method of accelerated cooling by means of compressed air is used after
reheating up to the austenite region.
(6) Latest technical trend
Sometimes, weld defects like the inclusion of oxides take place when the
closeness of contact in the heating and forging process is poor. A precise study
to clarify the process of defect development is under way. Moreover, with an
objective of reducing CO2 gas, gaspressure welding using hydrogen as gas
for heating is under study.
2.3 Thermite welding
(1) Feature
The equipment has a simple structure and high mobility and
does not need any specialized skill. Further, unlike in the case of
pressure welding methods like flash-butt welding and gas-pressure
welding, in this welding method, there is no change in the rail length
by welding; this welding method is used worldwide as a field welding
method for the final stage in rail installation. In flash-butt welding and gaspressure welding, rails are installed for use after removing the entire bulge
produced all around the rail at the weld section. However, in this welding
method, only the bulge (weld reinforcement) on the rail head is removed,
allowing the rest of the bulge to remain as it is.
(2) Welding process
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This is a method of welding rails by pouring into the weld section,

molten steel produced
reaction)

between

through

oxidized

a chemical
iron

and

reaction (thermite

metallic

aluminum.

Prior to welding, an I-shaped groove of approximately 25 mm in

width is set between the end faces of the two butted rails, and the
groove is enclosed with a mold. A sand mold made of silica sand is
used. Further, in order to prevent the occurrence of air bubbles
caused by the water/moisture adherent to the mold and/or the rails,
and to ensure the melting of the to-be-welded surface, the surfaces
are preheated with propane/oxygen gas or the like.
Thermite reaction process: The thermite reaction is promoted by a
mixture of powders called the thermite mixture. The thermite mixture
consists of oxidized iron and metallic aluminum as the reaction
constituents along with alloy additives like ferromanganese and/or
the like, and the composition of this mixture is adjusted so that the
composition of the weld metal comes close to that of the rail. The
thermite mixture is poured into a crucible set above the mold, and
the reaction is started by an ignition agent in the form of a pyrotechnic
agent. A reaction lasts for 15-30 s. Molten steel and molten alumina slag
are produced as a result of the reaction that reaches 2,000C or higher in
temperature; they remain in the molten state and are separated in the
crucible by the difference in specific gravity. This thermite reaction is a
reduction reaction where aluminum reduces oxidized iron as shown by
equations (1) and (2).
Fe 2O3 + 2Al Al2O3 + 2Fe (1)
3FeO + 2Al Al 2O3 + 3Fe (2)
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Tapping and solidification process: The molten steel thus produced is

poured into a weld section. Tapping is automatically started as soon as a
plug (oxide) at the bottom of the crucible is molten by the heat of the
molten steel generated by the reaction. The rail end faces are melted by
the poured molten steel. The poured molten steel and the molten rail end
faces are solidified together by weld jointing both the rails. The process
from tapping to solidification takes approximately 4 min. Further, in order
to avoid the occurrence of weld defects called solidification cracks, it is
ensured that the rails are fixed firmly. Trimming process: The excess weld
metal on the top of the head is removed by a hydraulically operated
trimmer.
(3) Welding time
The welding time is approximately 30 min.
(4) Equipment
The equipment consists of a preheating burner, a crucible, a mold
kit, and a hydraulically operated trimmer. All of these apparatuses are
compact in size, enabling convenient transportability to a site on
a rail track.
(5) Weld quality
Macro-structure: As the chemical compositions of the rail and
the weld metal are almost the same, the boundary between the weld
metal and the HAZ is not clear. As seen from the boundaries shown
in the photo with broken lines, the width of the weld metal is approximately
70 mm at the top and the width of the HAZ is approximately 20 mm on either
side.
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Hardness distribution: As compared to the hardness of the base material of

HV390, the hardness of the HAZ in the as-weld state is as low as HV300.
Further, a softened zone exists on either side of the HAZ. In case of the heattreated high-strength rails, an accelerated cooling method by means of
compressed air has been applied where the weld metal is reheated up to the
austenite region after welding, and then, the method is applied in order to
obtain the same hardness level in domestic railways.
(6) Latest technical trend
In order to eliminate the processes of reheating and accelerated cooling
for the heat-treated rails, a thermite mixture composed to achieve a
sufficiently high hardness that is equal to that of such rails in practical use is
used. The use of this mixture reduces the welding time. Furthermore, as in
the case of the flash-butt welding method, a study is in progress on the
possibility of applying the thermite welding method to rail repairing. A
welding method for rail repairing called the wide gap method that uses
thermite welding is in practical use domestically and overseas. In this method,
the rail portion with damage is cut into a 75-mm-long piece and the gap is
enclosed with a kit of wide mold; then, thermite welding is applied thereto.
Moreover, in other countries, a repairing technology is under study wherein
the damage is caused on the surface of a rail head; the damage is removed by
making U-shaped grooves and pouring the molten steel produced by the
thermite reaction into these grooves, thereby repairing the damaged portion.
2.4 Enclosed-arc welding
(1) Feature

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Enclosed-arc welding is a field welding method specifically developed

in Japan during the construction of the New Tokaido Trunk line. It is a
shielded metal arc welding method requiring significant skill. Similar to
thermite welding, it is a fusion welding method that does not cause any change
in the rail length because of the welding. This equipment is simple and has
excellent mobility; it is applied to field welding in new trunk lines and to field
welding for turnouts or the like where the working space is insufficient. The
narrow space, enclosed by the copper shoes that cover the rail web up to the
head and by the rail end faces, is filled in by welding; therefore, this
method is called enclosed-arc welding.
(2) Welding process
The entire welding process consists of penetration bead welding and multipass welding at the base, continuous welding at the web and the head, and
multi-pass welding at the head. The groove is an I-type one having a gap of
approximately 17 mm, and prior to welding, the base is preheated to 500C
for the prevention of cold cracks. Multi-pass welding process for base:
Penetration bead welding using a copper shoe is applied to the first layer,
followed by multipass welding to the entire base. As for the method of buildup, one bead builds up one layer. Further, the slag on each layer is removed.
Continuous

welding

process

from

web

to

head:

Water-cooled

copper shoes are set on the sides of the groove, and welding is carried out by
changing the welding rods without removing the slag. Multi-pass welding
process at head: Multi-pass welding is applied to the rail head portion having
a depth of 10-15 mm. Welding rods of 800-1100-MPa class are used for
standard carbon rails. As the carbon content of these rods is low, the weld
metal has a kainite structure. In order to improve the wear and abrasion
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resistance of the weld metal of high-strength rails, a high-carbon

welding rod has been developed by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal
Corporation in order to produce a weld metal structure of pearlite;
this is used in practical applications domestically.
(3) Welding time
The welding time depends on the rail profile. In the case of the
JIS60 rail, the required welding time is 60 min or longer. Factors
that necessitate a long time are multiple-pass welding, continuous
welding, preheating, temperature control between passes, and slag
removal between passes in multi-pass welding.
(4) Equipment
A preheating burner, an engine welder, and copper shoes are
used in this method.
(5) Weld quality
Further, in this case, the weld section is reheated up to the austenite
region and accelerated cooling is applied to the head, aiming at an
improvement of the weld quality.
Macro-structure: The width of the weld metal is approximately20 mm,
and the width of HAZ is approximately 50 mm on either side. The HAZ
observed here was developed by reheating. Hardness distribution: The
hardness of the weld metal in the asweld state is close to the base material
hardness of HV390. In the case wherein reheating and accelerated cooling
are applied, the hardness of the weld metal and the HAZ become more
equalized.
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Further, in the as-weld state, softened zones exist adjacent to the weld
metal. On the other hand, when reheating and accelerated cooling are
applied, softened zones exist farther away from the center of the weld
section.
(6) Latest technical trend
The problem is that the welding by this method needs almost 60
min or longer. A semiautomatic welding method has been developed
to reduce the welding time, and there are reports that the welding
time is reduced by 30 min.
3 Comparison of welding methods
A technical comparison of various rail welding methods and
their actual application results is discussed below. The welding time,
initial investment of equipment, mobility of equipment, required
operators skill, and the weld quality of the four welding methods are
summarized in Table 1.
Welding time: The welding time of flash-butt welding is the shortest,
and it increases in the order of gas-pressure welding, thermite welding,
and enclosed-arc welding. In the vicinity of big cities, a suspension of the
train service for track maintenance lasts only 4-5 h; accordingly, at times,
it is difficult to carry out repairs by using enclosed-arc welding.
Initial investment of equipment: The initial investment for flash-butt
welding, which involves the use of a large-capacity transformer and a
large hydraulic unit is the highest among the method considered. In the
case of gas-pressure welding where the source of heating energy is
changed to gas, the initial investment is less than that in the case of flash13

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butt welding. The initial investment of thermite welding is low as

trimming is applied only to the head portion, and therefore, a small
hydraulic unit can be used. Further, in the case of enclosed-arc welding,
although an engine welder is necessary, since there is no trimming process
and a hydraulic unit is not required, the initial investment is low.
Mobility of equipment: The mobility of flash-butt welding and
gas-pressure welding is inferior because each has large pressurizing
apparatus. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, an attempt of miniaturization
is being made. On the other hand, the equipment used in thermite welding
and enclosed-arc welding is simple and has excellent mobility. In
particular, enclosed-arc welding is advantageous in that only copper shoes
are used around the welding site, and the repairing work is possible even
in a narrow space around a turnout where the rail separation is small.
Operators skill: Any specialized skill is not required for flash-butt
welding as the method is completely automated. Likewise, thermite
welding is rather simple in its operation; therefore, no specialized skill is
required. On the other hand, specialized skill is required for the heating
process of gas-pressure welding. Further, highly skilled arc-welding
operators are required for enclosed-arc welding. Weld quality: Since both
thermite welding and enclosed-arc welding are fusion welding methods, it
is difficult to completely prevent weld defects in the weld metal, such as
minute air bubbles and slag. On the other hand, in flash-butt welding and
gas-pressure welding, the weld defects tend to be produced less frequently
because the base rails are butted and pressure-welded to each other
without the intervention of the weld metal. There is a report that the
breakage ratios of flash-butt welding and gas-pressure welding are
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low as compared to the breakage ratios of thermite welding and enclosedarc welding.
As mentioned above, flash-butt welding is employed worldwide
as a welding method for plant welding because in this case, the
welding time is short, specialized skill is not required, and high quality is
obtained although the equipment is large, the initial investment
is high, and mobility is inferior. In case of gas-pressure welding, the
weld quality is high and the welding time is short as compared to
flash-butt welding. Further, since the initial investment is low as
compared to that of flash-butt welding, gas-pressure welding is
widely employed domestically. Although the welding time is longer,
thermite welding is used worldwide as a field welding method because of
its low initial investment, light-weight equipment, high mobility, and easy
acquisition of the operating technology. Enclosed-arc welding is
employed for field welding around a turnout where the working space is
insufficient because specialized skill is required, the equipment is compact
and has excellent mobility, and the apparatus used for welding is small in
size.
In other countries, gas-pressure welding and enclosed-arc welding are
not so widely employed. This can be attributed to the facts that these
welding methods require skill that takes time to acquire and that the
welding time is longer than that of flash-butt welding and thermite
welding.

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Table 1 Comparison of four rail welding methods

Welding
methods

Welding
Equipment
Operator's
time
skill
Initial
Mobility
(min)
investment

Quality
of the
weld

Flash-butt
welding

2-4

Expensive

Low

Not
required

Excellent

Gas pressure
welding

5-7

Expensive

Medium

Required

Excellent

Enclosed-arc
welding

60

Not
expensive

High

Required

Good

Thermite
welding

30

Not
expensive

High

Not
required

Good

References
1/ Fujii Mitsuru, Nakanowatari Hiroaki, Nariai Kiyoshi, Rail Flash-Butt Welding
Technology, JFE Steel Corporation technical report No. 20 (Mar. 2015).
2/ Bob Turpin, Dan Danks, Electroslag Field Welding of Railroad Rail, Final Report for
High-Speed Rail IDEA Project 37, Washington, DC, USA, January 2003.
3/ D. Bajic, G. Vladimirovich Kuzmenko, I. Samardzic, Welding of Rails with New
Technology of Arc Welding, METABK 52(3) 399-402 (2013).
4/ Kenji S. ,et al, Trends in Rail Welding Technologies and Our Future Approach,
Nippon SY & Sumitomo Metal Technical Report No. 105, Japan December 2013.
5/ Ryuichi Yamamoto, Advances in Gas Pressure Welding Technology for Rails,
Railway Technology Avalanche No. 17, Japan, March, 2007.
6/ Mr Peter Micenko, Dr Muruganant, A/Prof. Huijun Li and Mr Xiaofeng Xu, Double
dip hardness profiles in rail weld heat-affected zone, The University of Wollongong,
Australia, 2013.

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