A unique collaborative alliance formed between IIT-Kanpur, Indian Railways arm, Research Design and Standards Organisation and Steel Authority of India has developed cost effective corrosion resistant rails for the first time in the country.
The Railways has already sourced the first batch of some 500 tonnes of these nickel copper chromium rails for its Jharsuguda division. This is part of a 10,000 tonne order for corrosion resistant rails in 2009-10 bagged by SAIL’s Bhilai steel plant which also developed the rails recently. For starters, such rails are being used in coastal areas which are typically exposed to adverse weather elements.
The new NCC rails were put to rigorous field trials recently, following which the Railway Board has instructed all railway zones to directly source these rails from Bhilai.
Incidentally, NCC rails were preceded by an earlier variant of corrosion-resistant rails, developed by using copper-molybdenum in 2002-03. However, since molybdenum is expensive, a need was felt to develop a more cost-effective variant that could be put to commercial use.
An MoU for developing a cost effective alternative to copper-molybdenum rails was signed between the three partners in March 2007. In this, the NCC variant developed by Bhilai Steel plant in partnership with the Railways, thus emerged as a commercially-feasible option, while IIT-Kanpur acted as the technology partner.
This is part of the Technology Mission on Rail Safety a government of India initiative, which had been conceived in August 2003 on overall safety aspects during railway transportation. The responsibility of the mission was entrusted with the ministries of railways & human resource development.
The commercialization of the new rails by Rail and Structural Mill of Bhilai Steel Plant is part of the unit’s ongoing effort to develop viable new products for one of its most significant customers, the Indian Railways.
For the NCC rails, five different chemistries were formulated and trials rolled out at a pilot plant under SAIL’s R&D Centre. The chemistry, found most suitable at the trial stage, was then produced at the steel melting shop at Bhilai and tested out at its rail rolling mill. The products were subsequently tested by the R&D wing of Indian Railways where these rails outperformed all specified parameters. Following successful trials, these rails were laid out in South Central Railways.
(Sourced from http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/2009/09/07/MTEwNTA5/SAIL_in_collaboration_with_IIT_Kanpur_and_RDSO_develops_corrosion_resistant_rails.html)
Monday, September 7, 2009
SAIL in collaboration with IIT Kanpur and RDSO develops corrosion resistant rails
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