Why is the steel rail I-shaped?

Steel rail is the main component of steel railway track, and its function is to guide the wheels of trains to move forward, bear the great pressure from the wheels, and transmit it to sleepers. As we all know, the train runs along two parallel steel rails, and square thick sleepers are laid under the steel rails at regular intervals, which enables the subgrade to bear the heavy pressure of the train evenly.

So what is the real reason? Because of the heavy load of trains, the top surface of steel rails should have a certain width and thickness, and the bottom surface of steel rails should also have a certain width in order to improve the stability of steel rails.

Moreover, because the outer ring of the train wheel is partially protruded, in order to match with the wheel with rim, the steel rail must have a certain height. I-shaped steel rail cross section can meet the requirements of these three aspects, and from the point of view of material mechanics, this shape of steel rail has the highest strength and can make full use of steel reasonably. Therefore, I-shaped section is selected as the best steel rail section.

I-shaped steel rails have been used in steel railways for more than 100 years. Except for the increase of locomotive load and speed, increasing the cross section of steel rails and improving the design of details of each part, the shape of steel rails has hardly changed. But this does not mean that the shape of the steel rail will never change. Steel railway engineers have been engaged in research in this field, hoping to find a more reasonable and economical steel rail shape.

ZXsteelgroup specializes in selling steel rails, mining supporting materials, steel plate sales and steel plate cutting, and strictly controls the quality. After the products are put into the market, they are well received by customers. If you have any need, you are welcome to consult or leave us a message on the website. We believe that with your advice and help, we will do better.

Tel:+86 18236766038(WhatsApp)

Email: zxsteel@zxsteelgroup.com