When it comes to rail vehicle manufacturing, the primary concerns are perfect welds and seamless tracking of all production processes, as even the tiniest error can have serious consequences. We support manufacturers of locomotives, trains, and wagons with powerful welding systems. Not only do they deliver excellent results, they also enable comprehensive data management when used with the innovative WeldCube software. Each individual weld can be traced down to the last detail, regardless of whether a manually operated system is used or automated high-performance welding.
Rail vehicles are playing a key role in the shift to sustainable passenger and freight transport. Rail produces fewer emissions and causes significantly less environmental damage than planes or cars—something which is becoming a huge plus point in times of rapidly progressing climate change.
In short, rail vehicle manufacturing is booming.
Rail vehicle manufacturing comprises the manufacture and maintenance of locomotives, multiple unit trains, railcars, wagons, and track-laying vehicles. The requirements within the industry are wide-ranging. For example, light rail vehicles and streetcars in urban environments must be able to accelerate and brake with great ease. Railroads in coastal regions are subjected to extreme humidity. Trains for long-distance passenger transport are designed for high speeds, while freight locomotives have to exert huge tractive forces. As a result, welding in this industry involves a wide range of materials and challenges.
All kinds of materials are used in rail vehicle manufacturing—from aluminum to ferritic steels or high-strength special alloys.
Welding is a central and critical part of the workflow. The components and geometries are constantly changing. The resulting challenges demand flexible welding technology. Around 90 percent of the welds are manual, the rest are automated—mainly when it concerns meters-long longitudinal seams.
The standard EN 15085 (DIN EN 15085 for Germany, ÖNORM EN 15085 for Austria) came into effect in Europe in 2008. This defines the technical rules for rail vehicle manufacturing. Companies that want to carry out welding during manufacturing or maintenance must be certified in accordance with the standard. Part of these regulations relates to full and traceable data recording, as, ultimately, welding errors can have disastrous consequences. Experts estimate that undetected welding errors can increase costs tenfold. Not to mention the risks to people and the environment, or the potential damage to the rail operator’s image. As a result, quality assurance with traceable production data is a key issue—and welding technology is no exception.
Here at Fronius, we have a range of solutions for recording and analyzing relevant process data. For example, we equip our welding systems with the open communication interfaces OPC-UA or MQTT. This means our systems can transfer information to any platform. What’s more, we also offer our own welding data management software, WeldCube. Welders can record, analyze, and visualize a wide range of data such as current, voltage, wire speed, welding speed and welding time, arc- and dynamic correction, or job numbers. This can be used to optimize processes, as errors are detected and remedied at an early stage.
Another advantage is the seamless traceability of welding operations— weld by weld and component by component.
The WeldCube is mainly used with our TPS/i series. These welding systems have a modular design, can be adapted to individual requirements, and boast impressive networkability and comprehensive communication functions. Their powerful processors enable them to analyze and control welding processes with extreme precision. This delivers optimum results for a variety of welding tasks—a flexibility which is sought after in rail vehicle manufacturing. Our TransSteel series, which was developed specially for welding steel, is also popular. These systems impress with their sturdy construction, intelligent design, and easy operation. They have adapted welding characteristics, which ensure precise ignition behavior and perfect deposition behavior, for example.
We also offer solutions for automated high-performance welding which boast outstanding quality and performance, such as the innovative TPS/i TWIN Tandem weldingsystems.
Here two TPS/i systems with precisely synchronized arcs produce one weld pool between them. In doing so, tandem welding promotes process stability. The deposition rate and welding speeds are high, while the welds are visually flawless. The tandem welding process comes into its own when welding thick sheet metal, in particular.
Our customers really reap the benefits when combining it with PMC (Pulse Multi Control), a further development of the pulsed arc. This function creates a powerful, stable arc when welding. Innovative stabilizers keep the arc length and penetration constant. The droplet detachment is precisely regulated and low spatter. Even in out-of-position welding, PMC offers high deposition rates and good controllability of the weld pool at the same time. Imperfections, such as undercuts, are avoided. PMC is also particularly well suited to welding components that are subject to tolerances and have severe variations in wall thickness. One Eastern European company, which manufactures bogie frames for railcars and wagons, was able to double the welding speed without any loss of quality using our TPS/i-PMC TWIN process—even on 15-mm thick steel components!
When it comes to superstructures, light metals with strength-increasing alloys are often used. The main criterion when processing these high-strength materials is their metallurgical reaction with super-elevated energy input. To reduce this through faster welding, and of course also for reasons of cost effectiveness, the degree of automation in production is constantly rising. Fronius Welding Automation has the answer to many requirements with its longitudinal seam carriages and gantry systems:
The FDV 1500 carriage is one of our most well-known and popular systems for welding wagon assemblies. To join the four meter-long welds in parallel, two carriages are used at ground level and two carriages are used at first-floor level.
Columns and booms with trolley are used to weld wall, roof, and floor components. Two welding heads are moved synchronously in the longitudinal direction. Each has tactile or laser seam tracking so that the welding torch can be positioned automatically. The main advantage of parallel welding is the reduction in distortion.
The flexible rail-guided FlexTrack 45 Pro welding carriage is mainly used to weld floor and roof components. The product range includes a user-friendly remote control, an ACC unit for automatic adjustment of the distance of the welding torch to the workpiece, linear and radial oscillations for butt and fillet welds, as well as mechanical seam scanning.