Baosteel U68CuCr Corrosion-resistant Rails are Launched Globally

After 16 years, with the struggle and inheritance of two generations, Baosteel's U68CuCr corrosion-resistant rail achieved its global debut. It will be officially included in the National Railway Group procurement catalog in 2024, and the first commercial order will be obtained from the Wuhan Railway Bureau, opening a new page in the history of my country's railway development.

In recent years, with the continuous development of rail quality and railway operation and maintenance technology, the service life of rails has increased by nearly 43%, that is, the total mass of rails after they are put on the road has increased from 700 million tons to 1 billion tons. With the increase in rail time, corrosion has become one of the important reasons why rails cannot meet the total mass requirements and are taken off the road early, increasing the cost of railway maintenance and the risk of driving safety. It is urgent to improve the corrosion resistance based on the existing rail performance to increase the service life of rails.

To this end, Baosteel Co., Ltd. has established a team integrating R&D, production, and sales, targeting user pain points, and continuously researching and iterating in developing corrosion-resistant rail materials, production processes, and market promotion. It has formed a series of process technologies such as rail corrosion-resistant technology based on rust layer stability control, high-strength corrosion-resistant rail component design and micro-organization control technology, and high-precision control technology for the surface quality of corrosion-resistant rails, achieving a good balance between the mechanical properties, welding properties and corrosion resistance of the rails, and successfully developed the world's first rail product with good corrosion resistance and engineering application.

In 2008, Baosteel completed the R&D project of corrosion-resistant rails and carried out related laboratory research work. In 2020, U68CuCr corrosion-resistant rails were launched globally for the first time. In 2024, Baosteel received and completed the first commercial order for corrosion-resistant rails.

Baosteel's production, sales, and research team worked together to optimize the performance of corrosion-resistant rails further. While maintaining the same basic performance as U75V hot-rolled rails, the corrosion life of U68CuCr corrosion-resistant rails was increased by more than 1.5 times, significantly reducing rail maintenance costs and increasing rail safety, providing new impetus for the development of new quality productivity in the rail field.