Numerical Modelling and Simulation of the Aluminothermic Welding of Rails: Heat Transfer and Solid-Liquid Phase Change

Abstract

The solid-liquid phase front inside the mould progresses from the rail end towards the weld centre and from rail base to rail head, such that the temporal and spatial evolution of the solid-liquid phase front results in a V-shaped solidification.Finally, the simulation results are qualitatively compared with experiments conducted at Goldschmidt Holding GmbH. The predicted temperature profiles in the rail during preheating and cooling stage, fusion zone (FZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) have shown a good agreement with experiments.