Method and system for welding steel rails

Abstract

A method for gas shielded arc welding steel rails spaced from each other to define a transverse gap comprising the steps of positioning an elongated steel barrier plate in the gap at the bottom of the spaced rails and filling the gap above the barrier plate with a molten steel from an advancing filler metal electrode by a gas shielded electric arc welding process initiated by an arc between the electrode and the barrier plate. A root pass is laid using the spray arc welding process, a second layer is laid using the pulsed arc welding process in part and the spray welding process in part, and the remainder of the base gap and the gaps between the webs and heads are filled by the continuous sequential laying of weld beads in the gaps using the pulsed arc process. In filling the head gap, the electrode is first moved along rectangular paths to fill the transition portion of the gap and then along paths having laterally extending sides and catercorner path portions therebetween to fill the full width upper end of the head gap. Movement of the electrode is controlled to provide adjacent, overlapping beads which have first ends extending outwardly of an edge of the head in cantilever relationship thereto and which first ends are vertically thicker than second ends of the beads which are spaced from the first ends in the direction toward the opposite edge of the head.