Uses of Light Rails
As an important part of rail transit infrastructure, light rails are used in many fields. Rails weighing less than 30 kg per meter are usually made of carbon steel or low alloy steel, and are formed into a standard cross-section shape through hot rolling. This structural design not only ensures the support strength of the rail, but also takes into account the economy of the material. In terms of material properties, the yield strength of Q235B and 55Q steels reaches 235 MPa and 355 MPa respectively, which are sufficient to cope with daily transportation loads.
Urban tram systems generally use 43kg/m rails, which have a rail height of 140 mm and a rail bottom width of 114 mm, which can effectively disperse the vehicle axle weight. The Shenzhen Longhua Tram Project uses UIC54 light rails. With an average daily passenger flow of 30,000, the rail surface wear is only 0.15 mm/year. Scenic area sightseeing tracks mostly use 30kg/m rails, and their 120mm rail height is designed to adapt to low-speed operation of 15 kilometers per hour. Hainan Yanoda Rainforest Scenic Track uses this type of rail to achieve the linear requirement of a minimum turning radius of 50 meters.
In the field of mining transportation, the application data of 38kg/m rails in Datong Coal Mine in Shanxi Province shows that when a single mine car is loaded with 8 tons, the maximum deflection of the rail does not exceed 3 mm. The rail joints are connected with fishtail plates, and the bolt preload is controlled within the range of 20-30 kN to ensure that the joint smoothness error is less than 1 mm. For acidic mine environments, the surface of the rail is treated with hot aluminum spraying to increase the corrosion resistance life to 2.3 times that of ordinary materials.
The internal transportation lines of industrial plants mostly use 24kg/m light rails, and the rail head hardness is maintained between HB280-320. In the Shanghai Baosteel raw material yard, this type of rail supports an electric flat car with a load of 50 tons. The sleeper spacing is increased to 400 mm, and the rail bottom slope is set at a slope of 1:40 to effectively disperse the wheel-rail contact stress. The detachable fastener system achieves an adjustment range of +15 mm for the track position to meet the needs of production process changes.
