RailClad™ is a bimetal piece produced by an explosion welding process that creates reliable, strong welds between two dissimilar metals while retaining outstanding mechanical, corrosion, and fatigue properties of the materials. Used as a transition joint it allows, for example, the welding of aluminum extruded panels on steel structures. The solution is advantageously replacing rivets and bolts and it simplifies the design while strengthening the assembly.Key aspect of the design is Fatigue behavior. In this presentation the fatigue strength of an explosion-welded steel to aluminum joint in both tensile and compression stresses perpendicular to the interface, and in shear stress for different load ratios to obtain the Goodman-Smith diagrams are presented. The experimental tensile / compressive fatigue results show a comparable fatigue lifetime to the recommended IIW values of a traditional butt welded joint.To highlight current in market applications of RailClad™, we will share a use case with Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent train structures. Alstom was introduced to the RailClad™ transition joint in early 2008 and after spending a significant amount of time on research and development to passing all stages of the validation, qualification and authorization, the use of explosion welding on rolling stock is considered a better alternative for their designs.A global expert in metal composite solutions, NobelClad is reimagining what is possible to reliably and safely solve complex multi-metal design challenges in the energy, industrial and infrastructure markets. More than 60 years ago, NobelClad introduced explosive metal forming as an innovative technique to join dissimilar metals. Today, we remain the trusted leader in explosive welding and offer a broader range of customized, dissimilar metal solutions with added technologies, including weld overlay and roll bonding solutions.

Railclad™ for Welding Aluminum-to-Steel in Train Carbody Structures

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/JRC/JRC2021/volume/84775

2021 Joint Rail Conference (JRC2021)

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