Process and apparatus for rail restoration and rail manufacture using welding
AssigneeCSX Transportation, Inc.
InventorROD KEEFE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for restoring a worn rail section includes cleaning a worn surface of a rail section to expose a clean metal surface, heating the rail section to a first temperature before welding, welding new metal on the clean metal surface of the rail section after heating the rail section to the first temperature, heating the rail section to a second temperature after the welding to heat-treat a heat-affected area caused by the welding, and shaping the rail section, wherein the welding is performed by a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process.
Claims20
A method for restoring a worn rail section, comprising:
- cleaning a worn surface of a rail section to expose a clean metal surface;
- heating the rail section to a first temperature before welding;
- welding new metal on the clean metal surface of the rail section after heating the rail section to the first temperature;
- heating the rail section to a second temperature after the welding to heat-treat a heat-affected area caused by the welding;
- and
- shaping the rail section,
- wherein the welding is performed by a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process.
A method of manufacturing a rail section, comprising:
- exposing a clean metal surface of a base metal layer, the surface being free of cracks and profile discontinuities;
- pre-heating the base metal layer to a first temperature;
- welding one or more continuous metal layers on the clean metal surface of the base metal layer after the pre-heating;
- and
- post-heating the one or more continuous metal layers welded on the base metal layer at a second temperature,
- wherein the welding is performed by a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.