A device for welding a rail joint of a track, comprising two rail clamping devices spaced from one another in a rail longitudinal direction which are connected to one another via push rods to press rail ends apart prior to welding. In this, it is provided that at least one rail clamping device is coupled to a transverse displacement device for flush-aligning the rail ends after being pressed apart.

An apparatus for forming a friction weld, the apparatus comprising: a support arrangement; a holding member, which is supported by the supporting arrangement, and which may be driven to rotate with respect thereto, or move with respect thereto along an arcuate path; a consumable element having a first joining face, the consumable element being mounted in a mounting location on the holding member so that the first joining face is exposed, wherein the consumable element is rotatable with respect to the holding member about a first centre of rotation, and wherein when the holding member is driven to rotate or move with respect to the support arrangement, the first centre of rotation travels in an orbital motion with respect to the support arrangement; and at least a first alignment arrangement, positioned to hold a first workpiece in place so that an attachment face of the first workpiece is aligned with the first joining face of the consumable element.

The invention relates to base part of a mold for aluminothermic welding of metal rails, which base part generally has a rectangular parallelepiped and has an upper face for receiving the foot of said rails, this upper face having a hollow cavity comprising a base, two opposing longitudinal side walls, and two opposing transverse side walls. The invention is characterized in that each of said longitudinal side walls has an intermediate region surrounded by two end regions, and these end regions are located in the same plane, whereas the intermediate region has a curved profile, the well of which is directed towards the opposite side wall.

A rail welding method and device are provided. The method includes: welding a bottom of rail, wherein welding is repeatedly performed along a first swing trajectory in a lengthwise direction of a weld seam, from one end of the bottom of rail to the other end of the bottom of rail; welding a waist of rail, wherein welding is repeatedly performed in the lengthwise direction of the weld seam along a second swing trajectory, from one end of the waist of rail, and the second swing trajectory is divided into two regions for respective welding in a width direction of the weld seam; and welding a head of rail, wherein welding is performed in the lengthwise direction of the weld seam along the first swing trajectory, between one end of the head of rail and the other end of the head of rail.

A welding unit for welding together two rails of a track includes two rail clamping assemblies which can be moved towards one another in a longitudinal direction of the rail along unit guides by compression cylinders. Each rail clamping assembly is equipped with clamping jaws which are displaceable in pairs in a pressing plane and each of which has a contact surface provided for application to a rail web. The clamping jaws are each constructed as clamping levers which are pivotable in the pressing plane about a lever pivot axis. The contact surface intended for application to the rail web is disposed at a first lever end spaced apart from the lever pivot axis. The two contact surfaces of each rail clamping assembly are each positioned closer to the oppositely disposed rail clamping assembly than the two lever pivot axes.

A stress-relief heat treatment method for stress-relief heat-treating a rail which is welded includes arranging at least one pair of an induction heating coil to face the rail at both sides of a welding center along the longitudinal direction of the rail while being separated from the welding center of the rail by 20 mm to 300 mm in a longitudinal direction of the rail and being an axial direction of the induction heating coil parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail. The method further includes flowing a current to the induction heating coil arranged at one side of the welding center and to the induction heating coil arranged at the other side of the welding center being opposite to each other, and induction heating the rail to a heating temperature of 400 C. or higher and 750 C. or lower.

The invention relates to an assembly for automatic aligning of rails, comprising: a first alignment system (10) suitable for placing on a first track element (70) on a first rail (100); a second alignment system (20) suitable for placing on a second track element (70) on a second rail (200); and a system for acquiring a position (30), comprising at least one position sensor, wherein the first alignment system (10) and/or the second alignment system (20) comprises an actuating system (51, 52) suitable for automatically adjusting a position of the first rail (100) and/or of the second rail (200) on the basis of a position measured by the acquisition system (30).

A Mobile Electric Flash-Butt (EFB) Welding apparatus that incorporates an automated geometry system which creates field/mobile EFB welds with proper vertical alignment, within a definable distance. The system has a first pair of adjustable reference points on a left side of a mobile welding apparatus. The system has a second pair of adjustable reference points on the right side of the welding apparatus. The system has a first lifting mechanism positioned between the first pair of adjustable reference points and a second lifting mechanism positioned between the second pair of adjustable reference points. The welding line is positioned between the first and second pair of adjustable reference points and is the location of the weld. The system allows for comparatively shorter inserts than previously utilized.

Systems and methods in which worn railroad rails and wheels are repaired. For rail repair, a mobile additive manufacturing unit (i.e., 3D printer) operates along the rail and dispenses molten metal on the previously prepared portion of the rail. Reinforcing composite materials in powder form or pieces of composite materials may be added to the molten metal to enhance mechanical properties. For wheel repair, a fixed additive manufacturing unit is used in the same or similar manner as the mobile additive manufacturing unit for the rails albeit the wheel is rotated relative to the additive manufacturing unit. The repaired surface of the rails and wheels have dimension accuracies and surface finishes that are substantially the same as the original rails and wheels with the same or better mechanical strength and hardness as the original after resurfacing with grinding or milling tools.

A rail welding crucible and cap with burner-ignited reaction starter mix has a cap, an igniter core, and a crucible. The igniter core is a mixture of material that can be ignited by an oxygen/propane gas rail-preheating burner and forms the reaction starter mix for an aluminothermic reaction. The cap is mounted over the crucible and used to hold the igniter core in a desired position. A core-receiving hole traverses through the cap, from a first face to a second face. The igniter core is mounted within the core-receiving hole so that the igniter core can flow into a reaction cavity of the crucible. The reaction cavity is a receptacle within the crucible which serves as a temporary holder for a quantity of rail-bonding material that undergoes the aluminothermic reaction. The quantity of rail-bonding material becomes molten and flow onto the joint once the aluminothermic reaction reaches a desired phase.