INNOTRANS: Pandrol launched its i+weld portfolio of seven tools at the Berlin trade fair. The products use automation and data to improve the quality, productivity and safety of rail welding, and the suite includes the newly developed i+align tool, which automates the alignment of two rails before welding.
The company hopes this will help make rail welding a more attractive job at a time when there is a growing shortage of skilled aluminothermic welders.
The i+weld product line comprises:
- i+align: a newly-patented tool which automates the critical step of aligning the rails, saving time and improving accuracy;
- i+seal: moulds which are sealed automatically during the preheating of the rail, creating a tight seal;
- i+heat: automatic preheater making the preheating error-proof;
- i+ignite: the portion ignition device simplifies the launch of the welding process;
- i+detect: defect detection using an ultrasonic stick to automate the process;
- i+cool: water-cooling to accelerate cooling and cut down the welding time;
- i+connect: a cloud-based application which gathers all welding data and allows for precise documentation and monitoring of the operation.
Maria Nilsson, Head of Product Line Equipment & Control at Pandrol, told Railway Gazette International that a traditional aluminothermic weld takes around 1 h from start to finishing grinding, but i+weld reduces this to 45 min and saves around 20 min of active labour time.
Traditional welding relies heavily on a welder’s skills, with errors leading to lower weld performance, defects and weld rejection. These issues are addressed by i+weld’s automation of some of the processes.
The automatic equipment also reduces the physical strain on welders, and the time a welder has to spend kneeling on the ballast is reduced from 25 min to 5 min.
Better-quality data is also made available, enhancing process reliability and saving on operational time. This also enables any problems to be more easily followed up.
