Temperature field evolution during flash butt welding of railway rails

Flash butt welding (FBW) of railway rails was investigated in this work. For this purpose samples of R260 rail steel and 60E1 profile were instrumented and subsequently welded on a Schlatter GAA 100 welding machine under industrial conditions. The intention is to gain in depth process knowledge by more accurately depicting thermal cycles for an entire welding sequence in the immediate proximity of the weld as well as in the heat affected zone (HAZ). A detailed characterization of the single stages of the heat up phase of the process is important. Additionally, the secondary welding voltage was measured simultaneously during the experiments to characterize the transient heat input. Moreover, these data were used in the analysis of the temperature signals to better cope with electrical interferences. Additionally, a finite element (FE) model of this FBW process was developed in the present work. Its implementation and solution is realized with the help of ESI’s FE-software SYSWELD. A strong coupled thermo-electrokinetical and metallurgical calculation routine was used. The model comprises the transition resistance at the welding surfaces as the main heat source to the process. Temperature dependent material properties and a corresponding metallurgical model based on an experimental CCT diagram of the rail steel R350HT are implemented in the simulation as well.