Improvement of aluminothermic welding on the basis of the experimentally-theoretical research of welding seam cooling process

Abstract

The distinctive features of welding rails in the aluminothermic way are considered. Defects appearing in the process of operation of welded rail seams are indicated. A computer simulation of the aluminothermic welded rail connection cooling process using the LVMFlow software package was carried out. Thermograms were obtained showing the temperature distribution over the cross-section of the rail during cooling. To confirm the results of computer simulation, we conducted field experiments, based on the results of which time-temperature dependences of cooling of the rolling surface of an aluminothermic welded seam were constructed. The time of the surface cooling of the welded seam after welding has been determined to reach a temperature of 600 ° C, which is necessary for grinding.