GANTREX TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB46

European Crane Rail

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There are a large number of rail profiles are defined in DIN 536 as having a
rolled throughout the world. Many have minimum tensile strength of 690N/mm²
found their way onto North America and 880N/mm². There are many
crane runway applications either as part manufacturers of DIN “A” crane rails
of the materials supplied for a turnkey and many use proprietary names for the
project or mounted on equipment that various grades they offer. This can often
was fabricated off shore. Various rail lead to confusion. Therefore for those
Canada Plant & Office standards exist including Japanese, rails governed by the DIN 536 standard
Gantrex Canada Inc. Chinese, Russian, British and Australian it is wise to follow the method of
12 Barr Road but the vast majority of crane rails of designation described in the standard.
Ajax, Ontario L1S 3X9 other than U.S. manufacture which are For example, to designate an A100
Phone: 905-686-0560 installed on U.S. projects are rolled in profile manufactured to DIN 536 of
Fax: 905-686-0962 Europe. material with a 690N/mm² tensile
strength the rail should be labeled
U.S.A. Corporate Office DIN “A” Crane Rails “crane rail DIN 536 – A100- 690”.
Gantrex Inc. DIN “A” crane rails, with their wide base,
2000 Oxford Drive
low center of gravity and wide web, are A high strength chrome–vanadium alloy
Suite 400
Pittsburgh, PA 15102 ideal for high side thrust crane runway rail is commonly available for use on
applications. They are available in a high vertical wheel load applications and
Toll Free: 1-800-242-6873 variety of sizes ranging from A45 to though it is commonly rolled to a DIN “A”
Phone: 412-655-1400
Fax: 412-655-3814
A150, where the numbers represent the profile its properties are not governed by
width of the head in mm. DIN 536. This alloy has a minimum
tensile strength of 1080 N/mm².
Unfortunately the use of this higher
grade results in difficulties in rail
The majority of welding. This fact must be carefully
crane rails of considered before specifying this grade.
other than US
Head hardening of crane rail, an option
manufacture available on crane rails manufactured to
which are
the U.S. ASTM 759 standard is not
installed on US available on crane rails supplied from
projects are European manufacturers.
rolled in Europe.
DIN A Rails
MRS 73 – MRS 221 Crane Rails
The DIN 536 (1991) standard defines One major European crane rail
the rail geometry, as well as the manufacturer, Arcelor Rodange
chemical composition and mechanical developed a wide range of special rail
properties of the two standard steel sections which it designated as “MRS”
grades from which the DIN “A” rails are profiles. Certain of these MRS profiles
normally rolled. The standard grades were in fact direct geometric copies of
 GANTREX TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB 46_European Crane Rail PAGE 2
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the common North American “CR” The area between the underside of the
sections while others are quite unique. rail head and the top of the rail flange is
Refer to table 1. too narrow to contain a splice bar of
adequate strength.
ArcelorMittal U.S. Crane Rail
Profile Profile The standard method of joining DIN “A”
MRS 51 CR 104 crane rails is through welding. The
MRS 52 CR 105 normal welding procedures used are
MRS 67 CR 135 either the aluminothermic process or
MRS 85 CR 171 puddle arc welding. Both grade 70 and
90 DIN “A” crane rails can be
MRS 87B CR 175
Table 1 European A rails
cannot be
In the past, Arcelor Rodange mechanically
manufactured the North American “CR” spliced. The rail
sections to ASTM 759 and could must be joined
provide the head hardened option by welding.
commonly used in the US, but this is no
longer the case. Arcelor and Mittal
merged in 2006 and by 2008
ArcelorMittal elected to discontinue
production of North American “CR” DIN “A” rail web area too small for
sections at their Rodange mill in mechanical splice
Luxembourg. These CR sections are
successfully welded using either
now only rolled at the plant in Steelton,
process but higher failure rates must be
Pennsylvania.
anticipated when welding A45 to A100
110 Cr-V rails. The weld failure rate for
The balance of the special MRS
the larger A120 and A150 110 Cr-V
sections are still available but for now
sections is generally considered as
are only rolled from the standard 690,
unacceptable.
880 and 1080N/mm² grades. Some of
the more popular MRS profiles are now
also rolled by other European
manufacturers.

Properties of DIN A and MRS Rails

The geometry, chemical and
mechanical properties of the standard
European A and MRS profiles can be
found on the Gantrex literature sheets.

Joining of DIN “A” Crane Rail

DIN A” crane rails were never intended Puddle Arc Welding
to be joined with mechanical splices.
PAGE 3 GANTREX TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB46
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manufacturers from other parts of the

world will begin to supply these profiles.

This technical bulletin attempts to

provide a current picture of the topic but
the world-wide crane rail market is
dynamic and ever changing. Contact
your local Gantrex representative for
the most up to date information.

Aluminothermit Welding

The flash butt weld process which is

popular in the U.S. can be used to join
DIN “A” sections up to the A100 profile.
For now, the larger DIN “A” profiles
exceed the capabilities of the available
weld heads but this might change in the
future. Refer to Gantrex technical
Bulletin TB33 for a more detailed
description of each rail joint welding
process.

Flash Butt Welding

As crane wheel loads increase,

particularly on container port
applications the larger DIN “A” and MRS
crane rails are becoming more popular.
As their popularity grows in the U.S. and Rev.0 2/2011
around the world it is quite likely