TRADITION MEETS MODERNITY!

CREATING THE CONTINUOUSLY WELDED TRACK!

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ELEKTRO-THERMIT GMBH & CO. KG – BUILDINGTHE FUTURE TOGETHER.

Rail travel has many advantages: it is fast, convenient and environmentally friendly! With a portfolio that is unrivalled anywhere in the world, we ensure that high-speed, cargo and heavy haul trains, in addition to trams and metro trains, travel safely on continuously welded tracks with minimum wear.

Our products and services range from Thermit® welding to innovative metro-logy through to on-site service. We ensure optimum operation, maintenance and repair of rail networks. Thus enabling our customers to maintain efficient, space-saving passenger services and goods traffic.

As the largest subsidiary in the Goldschmidt Thermit Group we are the expert partners for railways and public transportation services across the globe. At our Halle (Saale) site, 180 highly qualified staff work in the areas of research and development, production, sales and service. Their common goal: to satisfy, and whenever possible exceed, every demand from our cus-tomers with innovation, efficiency, reliable service and the utmost in quality. In addition to this we also rely more than ever on the sustainability of our work with our environmental management, which is certified in accordance with ISO 14001.

Elektro-Thermit GmbH & Co. KG looks forward to a successful working relati-onship with you, today and in future too.

Management of Elektro-Thermit GmbH & Co. KG

YOUR PARTNER FOR RAILS!

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THE HISTORY OF THE THERMIT® PROCESS: ONE OF THE INVENTIONS OF THE CENTURY.

The history of Elektro-Thermit GmbH & Co. KG and hence also that of the Goldschmidt Thermit Group commences on 13th March 1895 with the granting of the imperial patent no. 96317 – “Process for manufacturing metals and alloys”. On behalf of the Theodor Goldschmidt company in Essen, Prof. Hans Goldschmidt succeeded in developing the reduction of metal oxides with aluminium powder so that it was technically viable. One of the inventions of the century and a revolution in welding.

This invention was so important because travelling by train was still quite a bumpy business until well into the 20th century, since tracks were only connected with fishplates.

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Use of the Thermit® process made it possible to weld rails continuously and thus heralded the start of mo-dern rail travel. The first welded rails were produced in 1899 on behalf of the Essen tram company and in 1902 for the Hungarian national railway. By the time of the First World War, the Thermit® process domina-ted privately owned railways and tram companies in particular.

Due to growing success, Elektro-Thermit GmbH was founded in Berlin-Tempelhof in 1919. Its goal: to int-

WHERE TRADITION AND MODERNITY MEET!

roduce aluminothermic and arc welding to the German national railway by 1928. After the Second World War, the founding of Elektro-Thermit Essen GmbH in 1949 marked an important fresh start for welding rail net-works worldwide.

In 2005, Elektro-Thermit GmbH & Co. KG moved their head office from Essen to Halle (Saale) – forming, as the largest company in the Goldschmidt Thermit Group, the central production and logistics centre.

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A PROCESS THAT IS GOING TO CAUSE MANY CHANGES IN FUTURE TOO!FE2O3 + 2 AL → 2 FE + AL2O3 + HEAT

THERMIT® – CHEMISTRY AND EFFECT.

Thermit® is a mixture of granulate aluminium and metal oxide that has a strong exothermal reaction after initial ignition. With iron oxide, temperatures of around 3000°C are generated. This enormous generation of heat leads to rapid expansion of the self-sustained reaction throughout the entire mix-ture – resulting in hot liquid pure iron.

From a chemical perspective, during this alumino-thermic reaction iron oxide is reduced to iron and aluminium oxidises to aluminium oxide, simultane-ously releasing a large amount of heat.

Since the Thermit® iron that is obtained would be too soft for rail joining, alloying additions, which help convert iron into steel, are added to the Thermit® portions as hardeners and a metered proportion of scrap iron is added to suppress the high conversion temperature and to further increase the yield of steel.

For you as the user, the versatility of Thermit® is parti-cularly advantageous. Although the welding together of tram and railway tracks, and thus the production of continuously welded tracks, has been our unrivalled success story, our process also opens up a variety of other possibilities:

» Manufacture of non-carbon containing metals» Use of reaction heat to heat objects up to their melting point» Repair welds to large castings (engine frames, crank shafts, marine steering gears, and other large parts for diverse branches of industry)» Demolition of large steel structures» Welding H-beams for bridge construction

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Our patented Thermit® welding methods make it possible to weld almost all rails – from vignole to grooved, crane and conductor rails. Even rails of widely varying profiles and grades can be joined in this process. And, to a great extent, without interrupting operation of the railways. The advantages for our customers: optimisation of time, material and staff required and maximum quality, reliability and availability of the track.

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Furthermore, we see ourselves as an end-to-end supplier for aluminothermic welding. In other words: we develop, manufacture and supply all components that are needed for the Thermit® process. So along with the welding compound (Thermit® portions), we provide you with refractory moulds and crucibles, in addition to the machinery and equipment that are used to carry out the welding, subsequent processing and the technical acceptance test.

We produce up to 1 million Thermit® portions annu-ally in our factory for Thermit® welding, meeting the highest standards for quality. Our expertise and the very latest in technology ensure process accuracy and reproducability for all required welding properties. As Q1 supplier for the German Railways, Deutsche Bahn AG, and with a quality management system tested and certified according to EN ISO 9001:2008, we satisfy the most stringent requirements while managing our resources carefully.

PERFECTLY CONSTRUCTED – AND MADE TO LAST!

CONTINUOUS INNOVATION COMBINED WITH OUTSTANDING QUALITY.

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A FORCE TO DEPEND UPON IN FUTURE TOO!

In the field of signals and safety technology for railways, electric track circuits are nowadays produced where the rails serve as conductors. In this regard, rail joints are particularly important. At the required demarcation points they ensure that the electrical circuit is interrupted and therefore that certain signal block sections of the tracks are disconnected from one another electrically.

In early as 1970, we succeeded, in conjunction with German Railways (Deutsche Bahn), in developing and patenting the first rail joints which continously meet the expected requirements in the welded track.

Today, our MT and ETW 1 insulated rail joints are used in both large and small railways across the globe. They differ from one another on the one hand in the type of load absorption and on the other hand in installation and manu-facture. When it comes to advantages, they are both equally impressive: You as the customer benefit from maximum safety, reliability and durabi-lity – and that in any climate.

THE MT AND ETW 1 INSULATED RAIL JOINTS – ABSOLUTE SAFETY, DURABLE RESISTANCE.

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The MT rail joint can be installed in the track directly and rapidly on the spot and thus ensures maximum flexibility. It is available for all standard rail profiles and in a variety of designs.

In contrast, the ETW 1 insulated rail joint is produced only in the factory and is then welded in as a plug rail.

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As your reliable partner in metrology, we offer an extensive portfolio - from longitudinal profiles to surface condition and the condition of the tracks, to our service for determining the neutral temperature for assessing track stability.

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How can you make reliable statements about track stability? How can you make maintenance even more proactive? And how can you document the track condition before and after trackwork? Products and services that answer these questions have always been part of our range. With our range of electronic straightedges we provide devices to measure the evenness and straightness of the track as well as to document the current condition of the track; without affecting the track.

Because we see absolute safety on the tracks and reliability of rails as a priority for the future, we attach great importance to focusing our inno-vative ability on continuously developing our measuring instruments and procedures. Along with outstanding quality and cutting-edge technology, key aspects include user-friendliness and year-round operational capability.

As your reliable partner in metrology, we offer an extensive portfolio -from longitudinal profiles to surface condition and the condition of the tracks, to our service for determining the neutral temperature for asses-sing track stability.

METROLOGY: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR YOUR SECURITY!

A SECURE FUTURE REQUIRES PRECISION!

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EVEN CLOSER

IN FUTURE!

ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU – OUR TECHNICAL SUPPORT.

With so many technical possibilities available nowadays, nothing can replace competent and personal local service. As a global company we offer close and trustworthy cooperation - almost all over the world.

Experienced application engineers provide you with extensive advice and valuable help in solving problems. We support you directly in the practical implementaion of products and processes.

Experienced application engineers provide you with extensive advice and valuable help in solving problems. We support you directly in the practical implementation of products and processes. Ensuring the quality of Thermit® welds, optimising site procedures and integrating innova-tions with short response times are also an integral part of our service.

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These are services for which our service staff have enjoyed an excellent reputation with our customers for many years and are highly valued as partners.

Our technical service provides support for our customers with initial training courses and further education for Thermit® welders, installers of insulated joints and weld inspectors.

Elektro-Thermit GmbH & Co. KG Chemiestr. 24, 06132 Halle (Saale), Germanyinfo@elektro-thermit.de, www.elektro-thermit.de

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