Method for welding railroad rails and means therefor

An electroslag welding process of the type wherein spaced apart metal parts are welded together by a metal weld, formed in weld cavity, into which filler metal is continuously provided, and wherein a slag bath is present and as a result of electrical power, applied between said filler metal which is in contact with said slag bath and the weld mold, the slag bath is maintained at a high temperature so that the filler metal, in contact therewith, melts and flows downwardly in said cavity, and as it cools it hardens to form said weld the steps comprising:

• positioning in said weld cavity a guide tube structure, through which at least one metal electrode is continuously feedable into said cavity;
• providing a bottom block forming the bottom part of said mold, said bottom block including a trough-shaped metallic insert extending across the width of the cavity and which is substantially heat insulated from the bottom block;
• and
• applying electrical power between said electrode and said metal insert and establishing an arc between them, and continuously feeding said electrode into said cavity, whereby said insert and portions of the bottom structure melt to form a layer of molten metal at the cavity bottom of substantially uniform temperature.

In modified electroslag welding process for welding the ends of adjacently spaced railroad rails, the steps comprising:

• providing a mold-forming structure for said weld, which forms a weld cavity, the structure including a bottom block defining a trough, a trough-shaped metallic insert, and heat insulating means in the trough of said bottom block, said heat insulating means substantially heat insulating said metallic insert about its trough shape from said bottom block;
• providing an electrode guide structure comprising at least two spaced apart guide tubes extending in downward-divergent directions to guide continuously fed consumable metal electrodes, with the guide tubes and electrodes forming filler metal;
• positioning said guide structure in the weld cavity, with the ends of said electrodes being substantially in contact with said metallic insert;
• applying electrical power with selected parameters between said electrodes and said metallic insert and the mold-forming structure, whereby arcing is initiated between the electrodes and the metallic insert, causing portions of the electrodes' ends, the bottom of said electrode guide structure and said metallic insert to melt to form a substantially uniform layer of molten metal at the bottom of the weld cavity;
• pouring preselected flux to the bottom of the weld cavity, said flux forming a slag bath as a result of flux melting, said slag bath floating on the molten metal;
• and
• continuously feeding said electrodes into the slag bath while said electrical power is continuously applied, until molten metal reaches a level at least equal to the top of the heads of the rails;
• said electrode guide structure including wing forming metallic plates extending adjacent to the guide tubes where the spacing between them is a maximum.

In a modified electroslag welding process for welding the ends of adjacently spaced railroad rails, the steps comprising:

• providing a mold-forming structure for said weld, which forms a weld cavity, the structure including a bottom block defining a trough, a trough-shaped metallic insert, and heat insulating means in the trough of said bottom block, said heat insulating means substantially heat insulating said metallic insert about its trough shape from said bottom block;
• providing an electrode guide structure comprising at least two spaced-apart guide tubes designed extending in downward-divergent directions to guide continuously fed consumable metal electrodes, with the guide tubes and electrodes forming filler metal;
• positioning said guide structure in the weld cavity, with the ends of said electrodes being substantially in contact with said metallic insert;
• applying electrical power with selected parameters between said electrodes and said metallic insert and the mold-forming structure, whereby arcing is initiated between the electrodes and the metallic insert, causing portions of the electrodes' ends, the bottom of said electrode guide structure and said metallic insert to melt to form a substantially uniform layer of molten metal at the bottom of the weld cavity;
• pouring preselected flux to the bottom of the weld cavity, said flux forming a slag bath as a result of flux melting, said slag bath floating on the molten metal;
• and
• continuously feeding said electrodes into the slag bath while said electrical power is continuously applied, until molten metal reaches a level at least equal to the top of the heads of the rails;
• said electrode guide structure including metallic matter with sharp edges at the bottom of said structure below the ends of said guide tubes, where the space between them is the greatest.

A method for welding together the ends of two rails, comprising:

• holding the rails aligned but spaced, and enclosing the bottom and sides of the space between them with a mold-forming structure to form a weld cavity, including positioning a bottom member under the rails, the bottom member including a metallic insert forming a depression at the bottom of the cavity and forming insert edges on which the ends of said rails lie;
• the bottom member also including thermal insulation under the insert;
• applying electric power between an electrode having a tip adjacent to said insert and said insert to establish an arc between them, and continuously feeding said electrode into said weld cavity while continuing to apply said power to said electrode, until molten metal reaches a level at least equal to the top of the heads of the rails, including welding at least part of the edges of said insert to said rails;
• removing all of said mold-forming structure except said insert from around the ends of said rails, at least the recess-forming portion of said insert being allowed to remain welded to said rails.