Maintenance and care of heavy rails are essential to ensure the safety, stability and efficient operation of railway transportation.
Daily inspection is the basic work of heavy rail maintenance. Railway maintenance personnel will regularly inspect along the track, and observe whether there are abnormal conditions such as wear, cracks, deformation, etc. on the surface of the heavy rail through visual and simple tool inspection. The key inspection parts include the head, waist and bottom of the heavy rail, as well as the joints of the rail. Once a problem is found, it should be recorded and reported in time to arrange subsequent maintenance. For example, if the surface of the heavy rail is slightly worn during the inspection, it can be polished in time to prevent further wear.
Grinding is an important means of heavy rail maintenance. With the frequent operation of trains, the surface of the heavy rail will be worn and fatigued due to friction, affecting the service life of the heavy rail and the smoothness of the train operation. Through regular polishing, the wear layer, fatigue layer and some tiny cracks on the surface of the heavy rail can be removed, and the surface finish and smoothness of the heavy rail can be restored. Grinding operations usually use professional rail grinding vehicles, and the grinding parameters are adjusted according to the wear of the heavy rails to ensure the grinding effect. Generally, on railway trunk lines, grinding operations are carried out several times a year to extend the service life of heavy rails.
Oiling protection is also an effective measure for heavy rail maintenance. Applying special protective oil on the surface of heavy rails can reduce the friction between wheels and heavy rails and reduce the wear rate of heavy rails. At the same time, the protective oil can also form a protective film on the surface of heavy rails to prevent rust and corrosion of heavy rails. Oiling operations are generally carried out at specific oiling stations. When the train passes through the oiling equipment, the equipment will automatically apply the protective oil evenly on the heavy rails.