USA: The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration have granted $4.6 mln under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) programme to cover a major part of the project cost.
The rest 22% will be contributed by the grant recipients, Indiana’s University of Notre Dame and MTI, a tech company.
The project includes development and testing of a full-scale machine for welding full sections of 136 lb/yd (67 kg/m) rail. The future machine will use one of the friction welding methods, namely the Low Force technique which utilises an external energy source to heat the interface of the parts being joined. It is stated that the narrow heat affected zone provides a weld life closer to the life of the rail. A service life of such joints is approximately two times longer than of those welded with electric arc or thermite welding techniques.
