Shielded Metal Arc and Thermite Welding Effect to Residual Stress, Hardness and Crack of R54-Rail Weld Joint

Abstract

The heating and cooling at the end of the welding process can cause residual stresses that are permanent and remain in the welded joint. This study aims to evaluate the magnitude and direction of residual stresses on the base metal and heat-affected zone of rail joints welded by the manual shielded metal arc and thermite welding. This research supports the feasibility of welding for rail. The material used in this study is the R-54 rail type, and the procedure used two rail samples of one meter long each, welded using manual shielded metal arc welding and thermite welding. The base metal and heat-affected zone of the welded joints were scanned with neutron ray diffraction. The scan produces a spectrum pattern and reveals the direction of the residual stress along with it. We found the strain value contained in both types of welded joints by looking at the microstrain values, which we obtained using the Bragg equation. The results show that the magnitude and direction of the residual stress produced by manual shielded metal arc welding and thermite welding are not the same. Thermite welding produces lower residual stress (lower crack susceptibility) than manual shielded metal arc welding. The melt's freezing starts from the edge to the center of the weld to create random residual stresses. The residual stress results of both the manual shielded metal arc welding and thermite welding are still below the yield strength of the base metal.