Integral Cast Steel Composite Slide Plate for Railway Turnouts

R&D Background:

Turnouts are one of the three weakest components in railway systems. As core equipment for train track switching, turnouts feature complex structures and multiple moving parts, making them prone to wear and deformation due to frequent mechanical stresses.

As a critical part of turnout switches, slide plates suffer from severe stress concentration. Subjected to impact loads and material fatigue, they commonly develop issues such as weld detachment, fracture, foreign object jamming, and corrosion. Under harsh operating conditions, traditional welded slide plates typically have a short service life of only 0.2 to 0.5 years. A single failure can lead to serious consequences such as train derailment or operational delays, significantly threatening traffic safety.

Common Diseases of Traditional Welded Slide plates

Weld Failure                                   Base plate Fracture

  Foreign Object Scratches               Pressure Tongue Fracture

Product Advantages:

Based on on-site practical problems, our company has developed a Step-Composite Integral Cast Slide Plate (Drawing No.: Zhuanxian 9786-II). With stable performance and remarkable results, it significantly enhances the strength, toughness, and corrosion protection grade of slide plates. The specific advantages are as follows:

1. Resistance to Weld Detachment & Fracture

   Adopting 20SiMn cast steel as the base material and precision casting technology, the product boasts a more uniform microstructure and homogeneous internal stress. Its high overall strength effectively reduces the risk of base plate and tongue blade fractures. Additionally, the one-piece cast molding structure eliminates the risk of weld cracking entirely.

2. Zero Risk of Switch Rail Jamming

   We implement a step-composite hardening process, which only hardens the active areas of the switch rail. This process preserves the toughness of the tongue blade while significantly increasing the hardness of the table surface, effectively preventing foreign objects such as iron filings from embedding and jamming the switch rail.

3. Cost Reduction & Efficiency Improvement

The excellent mechanical properties of the integral cast slide plate minimize slide plate failures and safety risks. It reduces the frequency of replacements, eliminates rust on the composite hardened areas, and lowers maintenance lubrication frequency. Overall, it achieves the goal of cost reduction and efficiency enhancement.

Application Cases:

Currently, this product is widely applied across China's railway networks. Our clients include metro companies in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, as well as major railway bureaus such as Guangzhou Railway Bureau and Urumqi Railway Bureau.