1. INSPECTION OF RAW MATERIALS FOR ELASTIC RAIL CLIPS& FINISHED ERC AND CHECKING OF SERVICEABLITY OF ERC’s
A presentation by:-
Shri A.N.Sinha ATSO/HQ/E.Rly,Kolkata
Md. Mahamud Alam AXEN/CON/ADA/SE.Rly.
Shri C.P.Raikwar AXEN/LM/HQ/WCR.
under the guidance of Prof. A.K.Gupta.IRICEN

2. Scope
* Indian Railway gradually transshipped from conventional system of maintenance to quality maintenance to suit the need of present day.
* LWR & CWR is inevitable to suit the present demand.
* Function of LWR & CWR mainly depends upon i ) Ballast resistance.
ii) Toe load.
* Elastic Rail Clip is the best design for the required toe load.

3. Types of ERC: At present three types of ERC’s are in vogue :
ERC MK III - Toe load of 850 Kg Kg.
ERC ‘J’ Clip - Used at joint sleeper having Toe load OF 300 Kg
Anti-theft ERC- Used in theft prone area. Toe load of 850 Kg Kg
ERC MK V -These are in trial stage Toe load Kg – 1500 Kg.

4. Functions of ERC : With stand vibrations induced in track
Sustain static and dynamic cyclic stresses.
Provide creep and tortional resistance and keeps rail in position
Able to resist lateral forces
Reduces co-efficient of dynamic augmentation.
Longer life and economic maintenance.

5. INTRODUCTION TO ERC Mk-III
Elastic Rail Clips (ERC Mk-III)
Specification : IRS:T
Raw Material : mm dia. Silico manganese
steel to Gr. 55-Si7
Drawing No. : RDSO/T-3701 (Alt.4)
Gauge Drg. No. : RDSO/T-3745 & 3746

6. DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS OF ERC MK III TO RDSO DRG. NO T-3701
APPROX. WEIGHT
910 gms
HARDNESS
40-44 RC
MINOR AXIS
9.5 mm
MAJOR AXIS
28.0 mm
DEFLECTION
13.5 mm
TOE LOAD Kg

7. INSPECTION OF RAW MATERIALS
SPECIFICATION:-
Silico Manganese Spring Steel of
Grade 55 – Si7 confirming to IS :3195 of mm dia(+0.20mm to mm).
For ERC MK-V dia 23.00mm.
Hardness : 270BHN.
depth of decarburisation: Max.IS:
Inclusion rating : IS:
A : 2.5 Max (sulphides) B: Max (alumina)
C : 2.5 Max (silicates)
D : 2.5 Max (oxides)
Grain size:- 6 or finer as per IS

8. SPECIFICATION OF RAW MATERIALS
Chemical composition IS:228
% Tolerance
Carbon to 0.60% ± 0.03%
Silicon to 2.0% ± 0.03%
Manganese to 1.0% ± 0.04%
Sulphur % (max) ± 0.005%
Phosphorus % (Max) ± 0.005%

9. QUALITY CHECKS
Silico manganese spring steel round are to be procured by the supplier from Rashtriya Ispat nigam limited (VSKP) as per RDSO’s guideline (test certificates of production unit i.e from RINL/VSKP)
Before actual production of ERC the raw material will be tested as follows:
a) Dimensionally. (Heat wise)
b) Chemically. (Heat wise)
c) Metallurgically.

10. Testing of Raw Materials
20 nos. of bars shall be checked for dimension as per heat wise, and to be compared with test certificates (supplier: RINL/VSKP) and Technical specification.
2 nos. of bars chemically tested either in laboratory or by spectrometer heat wise. Micro structure of two nos. of bars are to be checked for : (a) ‘D’ curb i.e. loss of carbon (b) Inclusion rating i.e. A, B, C, D
These result will be compared with test certificates and technical specifications.
Percentage of acceptance of raw materials are already discussed in previous slides

11. PRODUCTION PROCESS
Heat wise stacking:- The bars shall be stacked heat wise.
Cutting/Shearing:-The bars shall be cut , squared and chamfered in proper length i.e. 350mm +1.5mm to – 0 mm and the same are to be kept in proper way in front of heating furnace heat wise.
Heating in Furnace:- The cut bars shall be heated systematically at a controlled temp of 900 °c to 950 °c. Temperature monitoring recorder shall always in working order during operation.

12. PRODUCTION PROCESS
Forming of clips:-After completion of heating operation, the ERCs are formed in three stage of strokes.
Quenching:- After forming the ERCs the same is to pass through Quenching oil tank through conveyor belt for a period of 12 minutes at a temp of 70◦c(max). After taking out of bars from heating furnace to dipping in the quenching oil (including ERC forming), the time specified is 20 seconds (max). The quenching oil bath to be cleaned and oil to be filtered at regular interval preferably after production of every one lakh of clips.

13. PRODUCTION PROCESS
Tempering:- After quenching operation the ERCs shall be passed through tempering furnace with automatic temperature control device and continuous temperature recorder at a temp of 400◦c to 500◦c for a period of minutes. Auto cut is to be provided for keeping the temp in the permissible limit. A graphical chart shall be maintained.
Application test:- All the ERCs so produced shall pass through an application test.

14. PRODUCTION PROCESS
Oiling:- All the ERCs manufactured and tested shall be oiled before packing.
Packing:- ERCs shall be packed in double plastic/gunny bags and stitched with knotless thread and sealed. Each bag contain 50 nos of ERC’s.

15. Stage inspection during production
Check two clips after hardening in the oil bath for dimension in the standard gauge to RDSO Drg No T-3746 in every one hour from the running production and to be recorded. Check hardness of the above two clips every one hour and record the observation and see that the result are consistent.
Check the stamping on the product (ERC) is clearly readable.
Use the raw material of the second heat only when the cut bars of first heat fully consumed.

16. Marking on heel of clips and packing and sealing
All clips shall bear clear identification mark. As per example LG 6/5 it means LG=Manufactures code given by RDSO,6= last digit of the year of manufacture and 5= lot no
Before packing the clips shall be protected with one coat of boiled linseed oil. After inspection the bags to be sealed with lead seal with identification mark of the Inspecting official.

17. Final inspection
Random sampling as per specification shall be collected, if the sample are failed in any of the test, double sample is to be drawn, if doubled sample failed, the lot to be rejected.
Following test to be carried out:-
Application & deflection 100% of the sample size.
Gauging 100% of the sample size.

18. Final inspection Contd.
Sampling:-Sampling is to be drawn as per IS2500,generally double sampling method adopted
Lot size/
heat wise
( in Nos) Code sample Size cumulative Acceptance Rejection
Up to K First
Second
3001 to L First
Second
10001 to M First
Second
35001 to N First
Second

19. Final inspection Contd.
Hardness: 100% of the sample SIZE in RC method, value should be 40 to 44.
Toe load: 100% of the sample SIZE, value should be within 850Kg to 1100 Kg for ERC MK-III.
Calibration of Hardness & Toe load machine to be checked and the validity of the machine is also to be checked.
Major axis and Minor axis of the ERC i.e. flat surface/contact area to be checked. major axis min 28.5mm, minor axis 9.5mm and deflection 13.5 mm.

20. Final inspection Contd.
Chemical composition:- One sample to be checked per lot per heat, value should be as stated above mentioned in Raw materials.
D’ curb to be checked 5% of the sample size. value within 0.25% .
Inclusion rating to be checked 5% of the sample size. value should be within 2.5 of A,B,C,D as specified in the Raw material.

21. Placing/Maintenance of ERC
Hammer driving is prohibited. mechanical device to be used. Hydraulic clip applicator and extractor to be used. It should be driven in such a way so that end of central leg flushes with the outer face of insert to achieve required toe load.
ERC is susceptible for static load and hence loose packing is prohibited.

22. Placing/Maintenance of ERC Contd.
Rotation of central leg is inevitable to reduce the stress on deflection during service, hence greasing on central leg and insert is must to avoid seizure. as per IRPWM
Once in Two years in ordinary area.
Once in a year in corrosive prone area.
Grease to IS sleepers should be done by Key man daily.

23. Placing/Maintenance of ERC Contd:
ERC is susceptible for static load, hence loose packing is prohibited
Eye estimation for Toe load is not possible, hence Toe load testing is inevitable,
Frequency;-Four years or passage of 200 GMT which ever is earlier and Two years or 100 GMT which ever is earlier in non- corrosive or corrosive prone area respectively.

24. Placing/Maintenance of ERC Contd:
Sample size:- one present
if 20% or more of sample size records toe load below 600KG but >400KG both frequency and sample size to be double.
If <400KG to be confirmed by 5% sample size proposal for Through fastening Renewal (TFR) to be initiated.

25. ANTI -THEFT ERC RDSO DRG NO T-6254 & T-6255
IT IS MAINLY USED IN THEFT PRONE AREA.ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE CENTRAL LEG IS SOME HOW LONGER THAN MK III FOR PROVISION OF CIRCLIP AS PER DRG NO T-6255.THE CIRCLIP IS TO BE MANUFACTURE FROM SILICO MANGANESE SPRING STEEL TO GRADE 55 Si 7

26. CONCLUSION BEST QUALITY STANDARDS CAN BE ACHIVED THROUGH:
> CONSCIOUS MONITORING AT VARIOUS MANUFACTURING STAGES
> TESTING DESIRED PARAMETERS AS PER FREQUANCY
> MAKING SHOP FLOOR WORKERS CONSCIOUS OF THE QUALITY OF END PRODUCT
> ADOPTING CORRECT METHOD OF INSPECTION
> To achieve the game training of officials at every capital level is inevitable.

31. THANK YOU

32. Shri A.N.Sinha ATSO/HQ/E.Rly,Kolkata
INSPECTION OF RAW MATERIALS FOR ELASTIC RAIL CLIPS& FINISHED ERC AND CHECKING OF SERVICEABLITY OF ERC’s
A presentation by:-
Shri A.N.Sinha ATSO/HQ/E.Rly,Kolkata
Md. Mahamud Alam AXEN/CON/ADA/SE.Rly.
Shri C.P.Raikwar AXEN/LM/HQ/WCR.
under the guidance of Prof. A.K.Gupta.IRICEN