What Is Crane Rail?

 

Rail track, also known as railroad rail, it is the main components of railroad track. The rail track guide vehicle wheels to go forward, and bear the load from wheels and transfer the load to the railway sleepers. There are some kinds of rail track including light rail, heavy rail and crane rail. Light rail and heavy rail is classified with the weight per meter of rail. Light rail usually include 8kg, 15kg, 18kg, 22kg, etc. Heavy rail includes 38kg, 43kg and so on.

What is the crane rail? As its name suggested, the crane rail is used in the crane railway. The crane rail has its own material, dimensions, standard, and sizes. AGICO Rail provides various standard rail track, such as AREMA, GB, BS, DIN, UIC, and other custom rail tracks. 

Crane rail specifications

Note: this standard applies to special section rail for crane cart or crane car.

Crane rail size

The cross section and names of parts of rail are in the following picture. The size of cross section should meet requirements in Table 1. 

The allowed size deviation of rail section should meet requirements in Table 2.

Table 2
 

The area of section rail, theoretical weight and reference value of section rail should be in compliance with Table 3.

Table 3
Annotation: When calculating theoretical weight, the specific gravity is 7.85

Length of crane rail

• The standard length of rail is 9, 9.5, 10, 11, 11.5, 12, or 12.5m.
• A certain ratio of variable size of rails that are 4m to 8.9m long can be provided after the supply and requisitioning parties reach an agreement and note it in the contract. When calculating weight of rails, upgrade every 100mm.
• The allowable deviation of rail length is ±500mm.

Shape of crane rail

• The lateral curvature of rail should not be over 1.5mm every meter, and the total lateral curvature should not over 8mm.
• The total upward and downward curvature should not be over 6mm.
• The curvature of rail ends should not be over 1mm within 0.5m.
• The rail of QU₁₂₀ is restricted by capability of leveler equipment, so its curvature need to be negotiated by supply and requisitioning parties.
• The torsion of rail should not be more than 1/10000 of the overall length of rail.
• The asymmetry of cross section and vertical axis : the rail flange should be not over 2mm, and the rail head should not be over 0.6mm
• The rail flange should not be concave. The distance between the center of rail flange and the bulge of both sides should be within 0.5mm.

Weight of crane rail

The delivery of Rail is on the basis of theoretical weight.

Marked example

QU₁₀₀ crane rail made by U₇₁M_n steel is marked as Crane Rail U₇₁M_n-QU₁₀₀-YB/T 5005-93. 

Drawings of crane rail

Technical Requirements

Marks and Chemical Components

The marks and chemical components of crane rail should meet requirements in Table 4  
Table 4
 

Manufacture

• Crane rail is made of killed steel made by open hearth smelting.
• Manufacturing technique that does not generate white points in crane rail should be adopted.

Mechanical Property 

The strength of extension of rail should be no less than 90kg/mm².

The Quality of Surface

• There should be no crack, fold, scar, bubble, or impurity on the surface of rail. It is allowed to have indentations and scratches of which depth are within the allowable minus deviation, and hairlines that are not over 1mm deep. 
• There should be no crack, layer, and shrinkage cavity remnant on the end face of rail.
• The end face of rail should be cut vertically, and the skew of end face should be no less than 5mm in any direction. Rags that are over 4mm long should be grinded.
• Use air chipper to clean the flaws on the surface lengthways. The working depth should not be over the allowable deviation.
• The flaws on the surface are not allowed to weld and fill up.

Test Methods

The sample number, sampling location and test methods of every group of crane rails are as the following table.
Table 5
 

Inspection Rule

Inspection, and Acceptance

The technical supervision department of supplier take the responsibility of inspection and acceptance.

Lot Grouping Rule

The crane rails should be checked and accepted groups by groups. Every group should be formed by crane rails of the same model and with the same retort number.

Sample Number

• Sample number is stipulated by Table 5.
• If the manufacturer can guarantee the strength extension meet the requirement, usually the inspection will be omitted. But when the demander ask for inspection, strength extension test should be carried out.

Review Rule and Judgment

The inspection items and review rule are carried out according to GB_2101-80 “General Regulation of Inspection and Acceptance, Package, Mark, Quality Certificate of Shape Steel ”.

Package, Mark, Quality Certificate

Cleared and Raised Mark Should be Rolled on the Waist of Crane Rail:

a. Trademark of Manufacture
b. Model
c. Year and month of Manufacture

Every Crane Rail Should Have Mark of the Steel, Smelting Number, and Mark of Quality Supervision Department.

The Package, Mark, and Quality Certificate Should Also Meet the Standard of GB2101-80 besides this Standard.