Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons

Purpose – Weathering steel has excellent resistance to atmospheric corrosion, but still faces complex environmental corrosion problems during long-term operation. This paper mainly studies the corrosion problem of weather resistant steel materials for railway freight car bodies with a load capacity...

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Main Authors: Wei Du, Yi Wu, Zhongyu Yi, Ruohan Xiang, Yishuo Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Publishing 2025-06-01
Series:Railway Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RS-01-2025-0003/full/pdf
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author Wei Du
Yi Wu
Zhongyu Yi
Ruohan Xiang
Yishuo Liu
author_facet Wei Du
Yi Wu
Zhongyu Yi
Ruohan Xiang
Yishuo Liu
author_sort Wei Du
collection DOAJ
description Purpose – Weathering steel has excellent resistance to atmospheric corrosion, but still faces complex environmental corrosion problems during long-term operation. This paper mainly studies the corrosion problem of weather resistant steel materials for railway freight car bodies with a load capacity of 70 tons. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes the corrosion characteristics of weather resistant steel materials for truck bodies through macroscopic and microscopic methods including metallographic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical analysis shows that the rust layer on the surface of weathering steel changes the surface state of the material, and also proves that weathering steel used in trucks undergoes electrochemical corrosion under atmospheric corrosion. At the same time, ion chromatography technology is used to study the corrosive ions mainly present in the residual liquid and foam solution inside the vehicle body. Findings – The corrosion of truck body materials is mainly electrochemical corrosion, and the corrosion of door materials is more obvious than that of other parts. The corrosion products are mainly Fe oxides and hydroxides. There are high concentrations of Cl – and SO42– ions in the residual liquid and foam solution at the bottom of the freight car, which are the main factors causing corrosion of the railway freight car body. Originality/value – The foam adhesive around the door panel is in a moist state for a long time, and corrosive ions will accelerate the electrochemical corrosion of the weather resistant steel material of the door panel. Therefore, the corrosion of the cargo door panel is more severe than other components.
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spelling doaj-art-dd6e45924a0d4e01ad0049bc3dd7df8b2025-08-20T02:35:04ZengEmerald PublishingRailway Sciences2755-09072755-09152025-06-014335637410.1108/RS-01-2025-0003Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tonsWei Du0Yi Wu1Zhongyu Yi2Ruohan Xiang3Yishuo Liu4Metals and Chemistry Research Institute, Fem Research Institute for Precious Metals and Metal Chemistry, Beijing, ChinaChina Academy of Railway Sciences Group Co., Ltd, Institute of Metals and Chemistry, Beijing, ChinaMetals and Chemistry Research Institute, Fem Research Institute for Precious Metals and Metal Chemistry, Beijing, ChinaChina Academy of Railway Sciences Group Co., Ltd, Metals and Chemistry Research Institute, Beijing, ChinaChina Academy of Railway Sciences Group Co., Ltd, Metals and Chemistry Research Institute, Beijing, ChinaPurpose – Weathering steel has excellent resistance to atmospheric corrosion, but still faces complex environmental corrosion problems during long-term operation. This paper mainly studies the corrosion problem of weather resistant steel materials for railway freight car bodies with a load capacity of 70 tons. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes the corrosion characteristics of weather resistant steel materials for truck bodies through macroscopic and microscopic methods including metallographic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical analysis shows that the rust layer on the surface of weathering steel changes the surface state of the material, and also proves that weathering steel used in trucks undergoes electrochemical corrosion under atmospheric corrosion. At the same time, ion chromatography technology is used to study the corrosive ions mainly present in the residual liquid and foam solution inside the vehicle body. Findings – The corrosion of truck body materials is mainly electrochemical corrosion, and the corrosion of door materials is more obvious than that of other parts. The corrosion products are mainly Fe oxides and hydroxides. There are high concentrations of Cl – and SO42– ions in the residual liquid and foam solution at the bottom of the freight car, which are the main factors causing corrosion of the railway freight car body. Originality/value – The foam adhesive around the door panel is in a moist state for a long time, and corrosive ions will accelerate the electrochemical corrosion of the weather resistant steel material of the door panel. Therefore, the corrosion of the cargo door panel is more severe than other components.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RS-01-2025-0003/full/pdfRailway freight carsCorrosionResidual liquidElectrochemical corrosion
spellingShingle Wei Du
Yi Wu
Zhongyu Yi
Ruohan Xiang
Yishuo Liu
Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
Railway Sciences
Railway freight cars
Corrosion
Residual liquid
Electrochemical corrosion
title Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
title_full Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
title_fullStr Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
title_full_unstemmed Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
title_short Study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
title_sort study on the causes of weathering steel corrosion for railway freight cars with a load capacity of 70 tons
topic Railway freight cars
Corrosion
Residual liquid
Electrochemical corrosion
url https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RS-01-2025-0003/full/pdf
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