3. Introduction
Rail joints are the weakest links in the railway track
Railway track with joints requires 30% extra maintenance.
Reduce the number of joints
(Use longer rails – KSA = 30 m)
Use welded joints
4. Long Welded Rails (LWR)
Terminologies
Breathing Length:
is the length at each end of an LWR
that is subjected to expansion and
contraction on account of variations
in temperature.
5. Continuous Welded Rails (CWR)
Terminologies Gaining popularity ,
Developing rapidly in
the past few years
No Joints at all
(joistless).
So how it works?
KSA?
LWR or CWR
No expansion
or contraction.
Rail section is large enough to
take internal stresses due to
expansion and contraction
6. Theory of LWR
P = Force
A = cross-sectional area
α = coefficient of linear thermal expansion (1152x10-8 per degree Celsius)
E = modulus of elasticity of rails (2.15x106 kg/cm2)
7. Cont. Theory of LWR
δl= amount of expansion or contraction
l = the breathing length of the rail