Aluminothermics steels. News applications

Abstract

The metallothermy is a process based on physical ' chemistry possibility of metallic oxides reduction (Fe, Cr, Mn, Cu) for oxygen strong affinity metals, like Al, Mg and Ti. The reaction is highly exothermic giving place to a metallic phase and slag separation by refining and reduction process simultaneously. The technological developed patent initially by Thermit - and improved for other Companies - works well by more than 50 years; today it is employed almost exclusively for obtaining steels and coppers for complex welded joints unions. Particular application or interest presents in the Railways technology for building continuous tracks, practically implanted in all the word and in welding copper cable rope - steel rail employed for traffic signals control. This work displays the fundamental thermodynamic principles of the aluminothermics of iron and their application to the complex weld of crossrail, dilation joints and bypass in Railways, that combine Hadfield steels, stainless steels and pearlitic steels of different mechanical properties. The unions should be compact, with strength and hardness in the levels that are cited in the work, according to requirements demanded by high speed (350 km/ h.) lines, now in construction in Spain, but they result of general use to whatever class of less demanding lines and to mining railroads.