Welding Innovation Can Keep Australian Mining On Track

Just under half of the 853m tonnes of freight carried on Australian trains last year was iron ore and over a third coal. With a single train typically carrying a load of upwards of 30,000 tonnes, the timely repair of rails is crucial to safety and financial return.

In many parts of Australia, however, the back-log of rail repairs is growing year on year, while rail freight too is rising. Freight volume rose 12% last year, underlining the large and growing importance of rail reliability to the success of Australia's economy.

Weld failure can reverse any savings that can come from choosing on-site rail repair over rail replacement. ESAB's research paper offers a range of solutions which offer reliability and efficiency beyond that which comes from the traditional reliance on highly-skilled operators.

The paper analyses the benefits of highly-portable, mechanised welding systems which can allow for rapid repairs and precise control over key welding parameters, such as heat-input, so delivering immediate and long-term productivity benefits.

The study also describes how on-site welding can be significantly improved by considering the metallurgical issues involved, including the relative benefits of using carbon-manganese and austentitic-manganese materials.

The study considers the part all these variables play in a variety of routine repair operations, among them the surfacing of rail-heads, rebuilding of crossings and joining of rails.