Posted on 02 Jul 2025
Increased rail-head hardness, improved fatigue and wear resistance
Leading European high-speed rail producer ArcelorMittal Poland is producing premium-quality rails with homogeneous mechanical properties along the whole length using Danieli RH2 rail-hardening technology, in Dąbrowa Górnicza.
There, rail lengths up to 128 m [120 m commercial length], with linear weight between 45 and 68 kg/m and hardness levels greater than 400 HB, are processed at a productivity rate of 22.5 rails/hour.
RH2 is the result of the intensive research and development activity carried out at the Danieli Research Center, in Buttrio, Italy where the interaction between the head treatment and foot cooling on the rail was thoroughly investigated on a full-scale model of a portion of the machine, and now is implemented and fully commissioned in the new plant in Poland.
The Danieli RH2 system is energy saving since no air blowers are used for quenching (45% lower production cost) and no additional heating devices are required for head/tail temperature equalization (35% lower power consumption compared to running through systems), leading to a lower OpEx compared to other rail head-hardening technologies.
A Danieli Automation control system, with dedicated PLC and HMI, guarantees automatic process settings and control of the system.
By operating RH2, ArcelorMittal Poland is delivering premium head-hardened long rails according to the latest European and American standards, in an efficient and environmentally friendly way, at the lowest carbon-emission levels and making use of clean quenching solutions.
With this installation, RH2 has become the new benchmark rail-hardening technology.
Source:Danieli
