Enclosed arc welding on Gothenburg Tramway
Manual metal arc (MMA) welding has
been the preferred welding method on the
Gothenburg Tramway for joining Vignole
rails since 1970. The same process has
recently been used on the tramway system
in Bucharest. This article outlines the
procedure that has been adopted.
Advantages
MMA welding takes about the same
amount of time as aluminothermic
welding (ATW) but is six times cheaper
and it only needs one welder to carry
out the whole job. The impact on the
environment is also less with MMA
because less fume is generated.
The results of bend tests on rails joined
with MMA are at least as good as those
obtained from ATW welded rails. MMA
joints must withstand 800 MPa of pressure
without breaking until a deflection of
14mm has been reached.
The uppermost part of the rail head can
be welded using an electrode that delivers
the same hardness as the present rail,
eliminating dips at joints.
Grooved rails can be welded successfully
as well as Vignole rails.
Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3
6 www.iorw.org
The process is approved by
Banverket in Sweden and Fig 4
DB in Germany.
Training
At the Banverket Training
College in Angelholm,
Sweden, track welders
are trained and certified
enabling them to
successfully apply the
process in the field.
Procedure
The procedure adopted for
joining R200 (700 grade)
Fig 5
Vignole rails is described
below. The length of
joined rails is 40m making
handling easy. One welder
can complete four joints
before having to move the
rail forward to the place of
assembly in the network.
Fig 1 After aligning and
raising the rail at the
joint area preheating up
to 3500C using an oxy-
propane burner. When Fig 6
the temperature has been
reached a consumable
backing is applied to the
underside of the foot of
the rail and the welder
commences to join the rail
at the foot.
Fig 2 Welding the foot of
the rail is the most sensitive
part of the operation. Once
welded successfully, the
web of the rail is joined.
To maintain the profile of
the rail, copper moulds are
used. Fig 7
Fig 3 The welder has
applied the pre heated
copper mould to the rail
and keeps them in place
using a G clamp. He will
now fill up the web with
appropriate weld metal.
The copper moulds are
formed so that molten slag
can escape the weld area
so that slag inclusions are
avoided.
Welding the web with the Fig 5 Welding begins on the foot of the
moulds in place gives the welder about a rail. Three beads are needed to join the
2 cm2 cavity to fill up. The operation is foot. One to the left side, one to the right
carried out using a spiral technique filling and one in the middle.
the joint. The moulds are kept in position
until about half the head is welded. The Fig 6 The web and head are joined
uppermost part of the joint is welded with together.
a hard facing electrode having a bainitic Fig 7 The finished joint with the capped
weld metal with the same hardness as the hardfacing layer is ready for profiling.
parent rail itself.
Jeff Ramsay
Fig 4 After reaching the correct ESAB Group
preheating temperature the consumable
backing is applied.