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GANTREX TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB46

European Crane Rail

aa

There are a large number of rail profiles

rolled throughout the world. Many have

found their way onto North America

crane runway applications either as part

of the materials supplied for a turnkey

project or mounted on equipment that

was fabricated off shore. Various rail

standards exist including Japanese,

Chinese, Russian, British and Australian

but the vast majority of crane rails of

other than U.S. manufacture which are

installed on U.S. projects are rolled in

Europe.

DIN A Crane Rails

DIN A crane rails, with their wide base,

low center of gravity and wide web, are

ideal for high side thrust crane runway

applications. They are available in a

variety of sizes ranging from A45 to

A150, where the numbers represent the

width of the head in mm.

DIN A Rails

The DIN 536 (1991) standard defines

the rail geometry, as well as the

chemical composition and mechanical

properties of the two standard steel

grades from which the DIN A rails are

normally rolled. The standard grades

are defined in DIN 536 as having a

minimum tensile strength of 690N/mm

and 880N/mm. There are many

manufacturers of DIN A crane rails

and many use proprietary names for the

various grades they offer. This can often

lead to confusion. Therefore for those

rails governed by the DIN 536 standard

it is wise to follow the method of

designation described in the standard.

For example, to designate an A100

profile manufactured to DIN 536 of

material with a 690N/mm tensile

strength the rail should be labeled

crane rail DIN 536 A100- 690.

A high strength chromevanadium alloy

rail is commonly available for use on

high vertical wheel load applications and

though it is commonly rolled to a DIN A

profile its properties are not governed by

DIN 536. This alloy has a minimum

tensile strength of 1080 N/mm.

Unfortunately the use of this higher

grade results in difficulties in rail

welding. This fact must be carefully

considered before specifying this grade.

Head hardening of crane rail, an option

available on crane rails manufactured to

the U.S. ASTM 759 standard is not

available on crane rails supplied from

European manufacturers.

MRS 73 MRS 221 Crane Rails

One major European crane rail

manufacturer, Arcelor Rodange

developed a wide range of special rail

sections which it designated as MRS

profiles. Certain of these MRS profiles

were in fact direct geometric copies of

The majority of

crane rails of

other than US

manufacture

which are

installed on US

projects are

rolled in Europe.

GANTREX TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB 46_European Crane Rail PAGE 2

- 2 -

the common North American CR

sections while others are quite unique.

Refer to table 1.

ArcelorMittal

Profile

U.S. Crane Rail

Profile

MRS 51 CR 104

MRS 52 CR 105

MRS 67 CR 135

MRS 85 CR 171

MRS 87B CR 175

Table 1

In the past, Arcelor Rodange

manufactured the North American CR

sections to ASTM 759 and could

provide the head hardened option

commonly used in the US, but this is no

longer the case. Arcelor and Mittal

merged in 2006 and by 2008

ArcelorMittal elected to discontinue

production of North American CR

sections at their Rodange mill in

Luxembourg. These CR sections are

now only rolled at the plant in Steelton,

Pennsylvania.

The balance of the special MRS

sections are still available but for now

are only rolled from the standard 690,

880 and 1080N/mm grades. Some of

the more popular MRS profiles are now

also rolled by other European

manufacturers.

Properties of DIN A and MRS Rails

The geometry, chemical and

mechanical properties of the standard

European A and MRS profiles can be

found on the Gantrex literature sheets.

Joining of DIN A Crane Rail

DIN A crane rails were never intended

to be joined with mechanical splices.

The area between the underside of the

rail head and the top of the rail flange is

too narrow to contain a splice bar of

adequate strength.

The standard method of joining DIN A

crane rails is through welding. The

normal welding procedures used are

either the aluminothermic process or

puddle arc welding. Both grade 70 and

90 DIN A crane rails can be

DIN A rail web area too small for

mechanical splice

successfully welded using either

process but higher failure rates must be

anticipated when welding A45 to A100

110 Cr-V rails. The weld failure rate for

the larger A120 and A150 110 Cr-V

sections is generally considered as

unacceptable.

Puddle Arc Welding

European A rails

cannot be

mechanically

spliced. The rail

must be joined

by welding.

PAGE 3 GANTREX TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB46

- 3 -

Aluminothermit Welding

The flash butt weld process which is

popular in the U.S. can be used to join

DIN A sections up to the A100 profile.

For now, the larger DIN A profiles

exceed the capabilities of the available

weld heads but this might change in the

future. Refer to Gantrex technical

Bulletin TB33 for a more detailed

description of each rail joint welding

process.

Flash Butt Welding

As crane wheel loads increase,

particularly on container port

applications the larger DIN A and MRS

crane rails are becoming more popular.

As their popularity grows in the U.S. and

around the world it is quite likely

manufacturers from other parts of the

world will begin to supply these profiles.

This technical bulletin attempts to

provide a current picture of the topic but

the world-wide crane rail market is

dynamic and ever changing. Contact

your local Gantrex representative for

the most up to date information.

Rev.0 2/2011