1

Summer Internship (VocationalTraining) at

Modern Coach Factory,Raebareli

Project Report on
Study Of Shell
ManufacturingProcess at
MCF/RBL

Under theguidanceof: Submittedby:

Mr.Basant Kumar Deharia Shubham Srivastava

(Senior Section Engineer,Training). (B.Tech/ME/3rdyr/1536340090)

(AIMT,Lucknow)
 2

Acknowledgement
During the summer vacation at the end of my 3rd year of Mechanical Engineering, I have
undergone the Summer Internship at the Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli from 18th June 2018 to 12th
July 2018. During this period I visited different Sections and Shops of interest. In addition to that I have
also completed project on “Study of Shell Manufacturing Process at MCF/RBL” under the esteemed
guidance of Mr. Umesh Singh (SSE Training) and support of many other department members and staff.
The images used in this report are the actual images of various machines at Shell manufacturing facility
atMCF/RBL.

I am very grateful to Mr. Umesh Singh for his kind help and guidance throughout my training.

Based on my experiences and whatever I learned in this industrial training, here I am presenting
the report of my Summer Internship and project work completed at Modern Coach Factory, Rae
Bareli.
 3

Preface
No professional studies are considered complete without practical experience. Therefore it is
important for an engineering student to do proper training to get real essence of theory and will be
able to differentiate between theoretical and practical approaches.

Creation of this report is influenced by numerous persons working under the esteemed organization
established by Indian Government. It is an archetype of best Modern Coach Manufacturing Facility of
India. As engineer the training experience have explored another dimension and platform of
ourthinking.

Of the various shops located at MCF/RBL viz. Wheel shop, Furnishing Shop, Bogie Shop, Coach
Blasting shop, Paint shop etc. We will restrict our discussion to Shell Fabrication Shop only. This
project enables us to know the processes involved in the manufacturing of Modern LHB coaches being
manufactured at MCF/RBL. The manufacturing of LHB coaches is a complex and critical process in
itself, it involves use of different mechanical processes carried out with the help of different machines
mostly of which are automated and are CNC type, very little work is carried out manually. In Shell
Fabrication Shop metal sheets of different thicknesses are used as basic material for manufacturing
different parts of the coaches these parts are later assembled and welded together. This completes
skeleton or Shell of the coaches. This is an overview and we will go into details of each process
involved in the manufacturing operation of shell in the following part.

-Shubham Srivastava
 4

Contents:
1. Introduction 05
1.1 History 05
1.2 Overview 05
1.3 Production 06
1.4 VariousShops/Sections 06
2. LHBcoaches 07
2.1 History 08
2.2 Usage 09
2.3 Production 10
2.4 TechnicalDetails 12
2.4.1 Bogies 12
2.4.2 Couplers 12
2.4.3 AirConditioning 12
2.4.4 Water Supplyanddisposal 12
2.4.5 Toilets 13
2.4.6 Pantry 13
2.4.7 Otherequipment 14
3. ShellManufacturing 15
3.1 Sidewallmanufacturing 15
3.2 Roofmanufacturing 19
3.3 Roofbearermanufacturing 21
3.4 Underframemanufacturing 21
3.4.1 CentreBufferCoupler 24
3.5 AssemblyofShell 25
3.6 SkinTensioningofShell 26
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Introduction
Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli (earlier Rail Coach Factory, Raebareli) is a rail coach manufacturing

unit of the Indian Railways at Lalganj near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. The factory is the third
facility in India that produces railway compartments besides the Integral Coach Factory at

Perambur in Tamil Nadu and the Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab. The factory was inaugurated

by the UPA chair person Sonia Gandhi on November 7,2012.

1.1 HISTORY
The project was approved in the Supplementary Railway Budget for 2006-07. Sonia Gandhi laid
the foundation stone for the factory in February, 2007 and land acquisition for the project
commenced in April, 2007. However, in 2008, following the victory of the Bahujan Samaj Party in
the Uttar Pradesh elections of 2007, the new government under Chief Minister Mayawati cancelled
the land deed for the factory halting construction work there. The Allahabad High Court permitted
the project to proceed after a public interest litigation petition was filed before it. In January 2009,
construction of the factory began again which was inaugurated once again by Sonia Gandhi. The
same month, Indian Railways signed a 99-year land lease agreement with the Government ofUttar
Pradesh. The delay led to the cost of the project rising from an initially estimated ₹1685 crores to
about ₹2500crores.

Now Rail coach factory become Modern coach factory.

1.2 OVERVIEW
The factory has come up on a total area of 541 hectares of land of which 283 was acquired from private

parties. The factory was constructed by the IRCON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (IRCON). 1450 jobs
are to be given to families that were affected by the land acquisition besides the compensation package

and the Lucknow Division of the Northern Railways is expected to generate another 1000 job

opportunities as a result of the factory becoming operational. The factory adheres to stringent

pollution control norms for curbing air pollution and spillage of oils and employs fume and sewage

neutralisation systems.
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1.3 PRODUCTION:
The factory is expected to manufacture 1000 Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB) coaches annually.

Anubhuti coaches, which are state of the art LHB coaches featuring ergonomically designed
cushioned seats, LCD screens, modular toilets and stylish interiors, announced in the Railway
Budget of 2013 are to be produced at the Rae Bareli coach factory. These coaches will
progressively be introduced on the Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains.

1.4 VARIOUSSHOPS/SECTIONS:
1. ShellFabricationShop

2. WheelShop

3. BogieShop

4. ShellBlastingShop

5. FurnishingShop

6. PaintShop

7. MachineShop

8. TransportShop

9. ToolRoom

10. FinishingShop.
 7

LHB COACHES
Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches are the passenger compartments of Indian Railways that have
been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the
takeover by Alstom and produced by Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, India. They have been used
since 2000 on the Indian Broad Gauge (1676 mm) network of Indianrailways. Initially, 24 air conditioned
coaches were imported from Germany for use in the Shatabdi Expresses, after which the Rail Coach
Factory started manufacturing after technology transfer. The coaches are designed for an operating speed up
to 160 km/h and could go up to 200 km/h. However, they have been tested up to 180 km/h. Their length of
23.54 m and a width of 3.24 m means a higher passenger capacity, compared to conventional rakes (US:
consists). The tare weight of the ACchair car was weighed as 39.5tonnes.

They are considered to be "anti-telescopic", which means they do not get turned over or flip in case
of a collision (chiefly head-on). These coaches are made of stainless steel and the interiors are
made of aluminium which make them lighter as compared to conventional rakes. Each coach also has
an "advanced pneumatic disc brake system" for efficient braking at higher speeds, "modular
interiors" that integrate lighting into ceiling and luggage racks with wider windows. The improve d
suspension system of LHB coaches ensures more riding comfort for the passengers compared to
conventional rakes. The air conditioning system of the LHB coaches is of higher capacity compared to
the older rakes and is controlled by a microprocessor which is said to give passengers better comfort
than the older coaches during summer and winter seasons. They are relatively quieter as each coach
produces a maximum noise level of 60 decibels while conventional coaches can produce 100
decibels. Each LHB coach costs between ₹ 15 million to
20 million,where as the power car which houses a generator costs about 30 million.
 8

2.1 HISTORY:
During 1993-94, Indian Railways decided to look for a passenger coach design which would be
lighter and capable of higher speeds compared to their existing rakes. The main features of the
Railways' specification were high speed light weight coaches to run on the present infrastructure of
the Indian Railways, i.e. the railway, track and environmental conditions in India at an operating
speed of 160 km/h. It was decided by the Railways that the design would first be tried in the Rail
Coach Factory in Kapurthala (RCF), and upon successful completion of this trial, it would be tried
in the Integral Coach Factory in Perambur.

In 1995, after a global selection process, Alstom-LHB received the order from Indian Railways to design
and develop a new passenger coach under a transfer of technology agreement. As part of the order, Alstom-
LHB had to execute two contracts, one for the supply of "Light Weight High Speed Coaches for Broad
Gauge" which includes the development, design and manufacture of 19 AC 2nd Class Chair Cars, 2 AC
Executive Class Chair Cars and 3 Generator-cum-Brake vans and the other contract for the
"Technology Transfer" which includes the transfer of technology for design and manufacturing, the
training of Indian Railways personnel in the premises of the manufacturer and the technical assistance at
RCF during the start of production. Out of the 24 coaches imported from Germany, all of them mostly
being Air Conditioned chair cars, the first lot were used for New Delhi-Lucknow-Shatabdi Express on a trial
basis. It didn't turn out be successful as the coaches' wide wind ows were targets of mischief and
stone-pelting. Railways had to use sealing tapes to tape up the bruised windows. When these rakes were
brought into service, couplers came unstuck and the data collected from the passenger feedback showed that
the air conditioning was not "very effective". They were withdrawn from service and after attending to
the problems, Railways reintroduced them on the New Delhi- Lucknow-Shatabdi Express and proved
successful.

The RCF began to manufacture other variants of LHB design like the air conditioned first class,AC
2 tier sleeper, AC 3 tier sleeper, hot buffet (pantry) car etc., from 2001 to 2002, and rolled out its
first rake in December 2002. The first such rake was introduced for Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani
Express in December, 2003. Up to March 2011, 997 LHB coaches were produced by the RCF. All
of these coaches are being used in premier super-fast express trains
like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and DurontoExpress and have been offering better passenger comfort.
Soon, all the Duronto trains will be equipped withLHBcoaches.
 9

2.2 USAGE:
Indian Railways have decided to replace the conventional air-conditioned and non-air- conditioned
Integral Coach Factory made coaches with the LHB coaches in all the trains by the end of 2017.
Presently LHB coaches are seen mostly in premium trains such as Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi
Express, Duronto Express, Double Decker Express, Antyodaya Express& Humsafar Express
owing to high cost of manufacture but gradually non-air-conditioned trains to have Linke hofmann
busch coaches. The non-ac trains which were converted into lhb rakes were mentioned below
(Zonewise):-

Central Railway (CR): Kamayani Express, Kushinagar Express.

Eastern Railway (ER): Akal Takht Express, Ananya Express, Durgiana Express, Jallianwalabagh
Express, Howrah-Anand Vihar SF Express, Kolkata Agra Cantonment Superfast Express,Kolkata-
Ghazipur City Weekly Express, Kolkata-Jaynagar Weekly Express, Poorva Express(via Gaya),
Poorva Express(via Patna), Shabd Bhedi SFExpress.

EastCoastRailway(ECoR):Bhubaneswar-Anand Vihar Weekly SF Express,Howrah-Puri Weekly

SF Express, Puri-Ahmedabad Express, PurushottamExpress.

East Central Railway (ECR): Archana Express, Chennai Egmore-Gaya Weekly SF Express,
Mahabodhi Express, Swatantrata Senani SF Express, Sampoorna Kranti SF Express, Ziyarat
Express.

Northern Railway (NR): Chandigarh Amritsar Intercity Express, Indore-Delhi Sarai Rohilla SF Intercity
Express, Kaifiyat Express, LucknowMail.

North Central Railway (NCR): Prayagraj Express.

North Eastern Railway (NER): Gorakhpur-Yesvantpur Express(via Faizabad), Gorakhpur-

Yesvantpur Express(via Gonda), Sant Kabir Dham SF Express, Shiv Ganga Express.

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR): Bhagat Ki Kothi-KamakhyaExpress.

SouthernRailway(SR):Bikaner-KochuveliExpress,ChennaiCentral-ThiruvananthapuramCentral
Mail, Cholan Express, Pandian SF Express, Rock Fort (Malai Kottai)Express.

Southern Central Railway (SCR): Vijaywada-Dharmavaram Express, Vijayawada-Secunderabad

InterCity Express.

SouthEasternRailway(SER):Howrah-MumbaiCSTWeeklySFExpress,Howrah-SainagarShirdi SF
Express, Santragachi-Anand Vihar T. Weekly SF Express, Shalimar-Visakhapatnam Weekly SF
Express.
 10

South East Central Railway (SECR): Bhagat Ki Kothi(Jodhpur)-Bilaspur Express, Bilaspur-Bikaner

Express.

Southern Western Railway (SWR): Anga Express, Yesvantpur-Ahmedabad Weekly Express,

Yesvantpur-Chennai Weekly SF Express.

Western Railway (WR): Ashram Express, Gujarat Sampark Kranti Express, Gujarat Mail, Indore-
Yesvantpur Weekly Express, Karnavati Express, Kochuveli-Indore Weekly Express, Maharashtra
Samprak Kranti Express, Mumbai Bandra Terminus-Ghazipur City Weekly Express, Mumbai
Bandra(T.)-Mahuba Express, Mumbai Bandra(T.)-Mahuva SF Express, Mumbai Bandra(T.)-
Veraval SF Express.

2.3 PRODUCTION
Annual production of LHB coaches is around 400 per year for year 2013-2014.

During 2010-11, RCF Kapurthala produced 300 coaches. During 2012-13, the total number of
coaches that were produced was 1680, while in 2013-14, RCF was able to increase the
production to1701coaches.
During 2013-14, Integral Coach Factory produced 25 LHB coaches. It plans to increase its manufacturing
capacity of LHB coaches. It has set a target to manufacture 300 LHB coaches in2014-
15andreachacapacityof1000LHBcoachesby2016-17.
The planned capacity of Rail Coach Factory, Raebareli is 1000 LHB coaches per year. The plant
is yet to becomefullyoperational.
A rail coach factory has been sanctioned at Palakkad, Kerala in public private partnership mode for
production of LHB coaches. Once completed, this factory would produce 400 coachesannually.

Rail coach factory is sanctioned by government and is to be set up at Kolar, Karnataka in

February 2014. The planned capacity of this plant is 500 LHB coaches per year for phase-1
and additional capacity of 500 coaches per yearinphase-2.
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TYPES

LGS = Secondclassself-generating
LS = Secondclassnonself-generating
LS3 = Second classnonself-generating
LS4 = Second class nonself-generatingGeneralSeating
LSCN = Second class3-tiersleeper
LWACCW=AC2Air-conditioned2-tiersleeping-car(52berths)
LWACCN=AC3Air-conditioned3-tiersleeping-car(72berths)
LWCBAC = Air-conditionedpantry/kitchen/buffetcar
LWFAC = AC1 Air-conditioned first class sleeping-car(24berths)
LWFCWAC = Composite coach with air-conditioned AC1 sleeping-compartments and AC2 2-
tiersleeping-compartments
LWFCZAC=Air-conditionedexecutivechaircar(56seats)
LWLRRM =Luggage/generator/brakevan
LWSCN = 3-tier Sleeper for80passengers
LWSCZAC=Air-conditionedchaircar(78seats)
LWSCZ =Chaircar
 12

2.4 TECHNICAL DETAILS

2.4.1 Bogies

The FIAT-SIG bogie is a welded H frame type based on the Eurofima standard. The wheel base is
2560 mm, the wheel diameter new 915 mm and at maximum wear 845 mm. Main features of the
bogie are primary suspension with articulated arms and coil springs, secondary suspension of
integralflexicoiltypewithcoilspringsandrubberpadsontopandbottom,anti-rollbar,verticaland
transverse shock absorbers and anti-hunting dampers. For braking on each axle two disc brakes
with 640 mm diameter, brake cylinders and automatic slack adjuster areprovided.

2.4.2 Couplers

The automatic centre buffer coupler of AAR tight lock type at the coach end has a support frame
which provides an anti-climbing protection. The coupler can be opened from the side by a lever.
The design allows the use of screw coupler instead of centre buffer coupler. Therefore a fixing
plate for buffers is also provided. The inter-vehicle coupler for the supply of the 750 V from
the generator car is located below the under-frame. Due to the moving situation 4 brake hoses are
to be used at the coach ends which are brought to two hoses behindthecoupler.

2.4.3 Airconditioning

Each coach is equipped with two compact roof-mounted air-conditioning units which have a
cooling capacity of approximately 2x22.5 KW and a heating capacity of 2x6 KW and which are
controlled by a microprocessor. The operating voltage of the unit is 3 phase, 415 V, 50 Hz. Each
unit has 2 refrigerant circuits with hermetic refrigerant compressors, condensers with Copper pipes
and Aluminium fins, evaporators and condenser fans.

The fresh air comes in through the air inlet of the AC unit. The conditioned air is transported in
heat insulated aluminium ducts mounted below the roof and distributed through the perforated
ceiling into the passenger room. The return air flows back through openings above the
compartment door to the AC unit. The entrance area, toilets and pantry are connected to the
exhaust air system.

2.4.4 Water supply and disposal

There are two connected fresh water tanks, which are made of stainless steel, with a total capacity
of 1370 liters for the 3 toilets. The water level is indicated on one tank on each side. The fillingcan
be made from both sides by one filler for both tanks. Three intermediate water tanks, each with a
capacity of 30 liters, made out of stainless steel are located above the
toilets.Two centrifugal pumps located in a stainless steel casing at the under frame supply the
water to the tanks.One of
 13

the 415 V pumps is always kept running, while the other is kept on standby. After each switch is off
the other pumpwillwork.

Below each toilet each toilet, a 40 litre waste water tank is provided in which toilet waste is
collected when the coach is at standstill. It gets opened with a pneumatically operated sliding valve
when a defined speed is reached. The junction box for the inter-vehicle couplerisvisible.

Controlpanelforwatersystemofan ControlpanelforAirConditioninginanLHB

LHBrakeinaRajdhaniexpresstrain rakeofRajdhaniExpress

2.4.5 Toilets

The coaches are equipped with "controlled discharge toilet system" (CDTS). By the means of this
system, a toilet in the coach would become functional only when the speed of the coach crosses 30
kmph, which is said to help in avoiding the soiling of the track at the railway stations. Later on, CDTS
was discarded for an environmental friendly alternative, "Bio-Toilet", designed in collaboration with
DRDO. Both eastern (squat) and western styles of toilets are provided. One side of the toilet is
provided with a wash basin with water tap and sensor button, a soap dispenser, a mirror, an ash tray
and a waste bin. On the other side there is the toiletitself, a water tap with mug, a handhold, the toilet
paper holder and the sensor button for the toilet flush. The window in the toilet can be opened in the
upper half.The toilet doors are of folding type to use the available space to an optimum.

2.4.6 Pantry

Each vehicle is equipped with a pantry for storing cold and hot meals which are to be served to the
passengers at their seats. In the gangway between the passenger roomdoorandthe entrance ison one
side the pantry and on the other side the storage area. The pantry is closed by a double leaf sliding
door and the storage area by roller shutters. On the left side, a 15 litre water boiler, an 11 litre
soup-warmer, a sink, and racks are provided. The other side is equipped with three hot cases, the
bottle cooler, the refrigerator and the deep freezer for the 78 passengers. The storage area gives
space for racks and also for the serving trolley.
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2.4.7 Otherequipment

On the outside wall of the toilet a waste bin and a fire extinguisher are located. The fire extinguisher
on the power panel end is filled with carbon dioxide, the one on the other end with water. The
vestibule is of UIC rubber type. The vestibule door is a double leaf stainless steel sliding door. On
the left side the socket of the local 415 V supply is located. A 60 kVA transformer with copper winding
transforms the power given by the generator car from 750 V to 415 V. All brake control equipment is
centrally not at all located in a brake container. A main brake pressure reservoir of 125 litres and a service
pressure reservoir of 75b litres are provided.
 15

SHELL MANUFACTURING

The manufacturing of the shell is accomplished with the assembly of Under frame, Side Walls, Roof
and Roof Bearer,End-WallAssembly.

The raw metal comes in the form of rolls of the metal sheets. Three types of metallic sheets are
used at MCF/RBL viz.

SSA (Stainless SteelAustenitic)

SSF (Stainless Steel Ferritic)

CS (CortenSteel)

The main use of Corten Steel is due to its strength is more than Mild Steel, CS has UTS of 450-
480 MPa and Mild Steel has UTS of 380 MPa.

3.1 Side Wall Manufacturing:

The side walls are manufactured by MIG Welding of sheets to achieve low heat inputs, less
distortion and negligible shrinkage. The thickness of sidewall sheets is 2mm. The other important
features are:

Door frames are part of sub-assembly of side wall but fabricated separately to take up
compensation of tolerance in wholesidewall.
Positiveinterlockingbetweenallhorizontalandverticalmembers.
Reduced sidewall thickness of 60mmfrom90mm.
Better geometry integrityandstrength.

Side wall is welded with under frame by V grooving of sole bar. Meta cot silver grey weld able primer
is applied to avoid bimetallic corrosion, the welding is done by magnetic track welding and grinding of
welded joint is done to ensure smoothness. The design of side wall has eliminated turn under to avoid
accumulation of water, muck and resultant corrosion. The approach for sand blasting and p ainting
isbetter.

These Sheets from CTLS are now fed to CTLS machine i.e. cut to length cum slitter machine.
CTLS uncoils the sheet and straightens the sheets without altering actual thickness and other
parameters of the sheet. After straightening the sheet Slitting operation is performed on the sheet.
 16

Fig.1CuttoLengthcumSlitterLine

Fig.2SlitterofCTLSline

The SSA comes in the size of 1.25 mm, 1.75 mm; SSF comes in the sizes of 2 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm
and Corten Steel comes in the size of 3.16 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm. When the sheets are

processed in the CTL line, the processed sheets are being sent to three stations viz. Shearing

machine, Laser Cutting machine and Press brake machine (800 tonnes, 160 tonnes, 200 tonnes,

400tonnes).

. Fig.3CNCLaserCuttingStation Fig.4 CNC LaserCuttingMachine

 17

LCM (Laser Cutting Machine) is used to cut complicated types of profile with a help of the Laser. At
MCF/RBL LCM is used to cut z-members, U-channels, T- floor, Angle, Rib, Roof flange, brackets,etc.

Fig.5 Pick n Place Robot of LCWM Fig.6 Welding and cutting head of LCWM

LCWM (Laser Cutting and Welding machine) is used to cut the complicated profiles like window panels

of 3-Tier and 2-Tier. It cuts the required complicated profile with great accuracy and finish. The

operationof LCWM is automated and the machine is CNCtype.

Fig.7 Welding Head performing laser welding of buttjoinedsheets

When the window panels are cut from side wall sheet then the sheet is send to the CNC 800 Ton

Hydraulic Press Machine to form the window curve of GS, SLRtypecoaches.

 18

Fig.8 CNC 800 Ton four column Hydraulic Press

Press brake machine is used to bend the sheet at required angle but it cannot bend the sheet at

angle less than 75 degrees. Folding machine folds the sheet at required angle by the use of

Servomechanism.

Dimension of sheet for special purpose machines are 2*1250*2105. For 1 side wall (of AC coaches)
15 sheets are joined end to end by Laser Welding. Width of 2105 mm is cut to 1996 mm by Laser
cutting to match the standard dimensions of coach. The length of one complete side wall is

18,196mm.

Then the supporting members like z-section, u-channels are placed over the side walls sheet. This is

achieved by placing the side wall over the jigs which extend the over the entire length of the side wall

sheet. The supporting members are placed accurately and precisely within the tolerance limits and are

checked for their positions. If the supporting members are placed accurately then they are locked in their

positions with the help of the lockers. Lockers are meant to restrict the relative movement of the sheets
and the members so that they remain at their accurate positions. Then the members and the sheets are weld

at some specific spots with the help of manual MIG-welding.

Now the members are held in their positions. The side wall assembly is now carried to the Robotic

MIG-Welding station. Where the intersecting members are weld with each other. This machine is

CNC type and its operation is based on programme.

This completes the welding of intersecting members. Now the CNC Resistance spot welding
machine welds the Sheet and members. Note that CNC MIG- Welding welds the member to
member and CNC Resistance Spot welding is used to weld the member andsheets.

Now this completes the side wall assembly.

 19

Fig.9 CNC 160 ton Hydraulic Press Brake Machine Fig.10 CNC Robotic Spot Welding Machine

3.2 RoofManufacturing:
Roof sheets are manufactured from 1.25 & 1.7mm Austenitic Stainless Steel. Roof Arches are

manufactured from 2 mm Ferritic Steel. End plate and angles are manufactured from 4 mm Ferritic

Steel. The middle portion of the roof sheet is plain and manufactured from 1.7 mm Austenitic Steel.

The roof is light weight as compared toICFcoaches.

The Roof manufacturing starts with the raw sheets that come from CTLS line. These sheets are
now formed into shape consisting of crests and troughs with the help of CNC 200 ton Hydraulic

Press Brake machine in order to provide strength to the roofs. The material used for roof sheets is

SS. Then the supporting members in the form of z-sections are formed on CNC 160 Ton Hydraulic
Press Brake machine. The metal sheet strips that are being formed here are cut into the shape of

strips on Mechanical Shearing machine. These z-sections are now bend into a curve shape keeping

in mind the radius to be provided to the roof.

Fig.11 CNC Stretch Bending Machine

Now these bend members are fitted on jigs that holds them in their specified positions then the
roof sheets are placed over the members.Prior to this roof sheets are tacked to each other so that
 20

they form the complete roof sheet and then this roof sheet is placed over the supporting members
that are already arranged in their positions as per the dimensions of the roof with uniform gap

between them. Now the members and the roof sheets are weld together.

Fig.12RoofAssemblyStation Fig.13BendZ-membersbeingsetinposition

The end edge of the roof is made into the uniform surface by removing the crest and troughs. This is

achieved by cutting the edge surface deformities and hammering in so that it takes the smooth and

uniform shape as shown in the figure below. Now the end edge is welded to the z section with the

help of manual MIG welding. Then ventilators are welded with run weld at their specified positions. The
main function of the ventilator is to provide channel for exit of hot air from the coach. They are so

designed that water cannot enter the coach and air may leave the coach when coach is travelling.This

completes the manufacturing and assembly of the roof.

Fig.14 Edge beingformedintouniformsurface Fig.15 Assembled RoofwithVentilator

 21

3.3 RoofBearerManufacturing:
The roof bearer is intermediate component used to join the side wall with the roof.It is not possible
to join the roof directly with the side wall assembly so roof bearer is used as an intermediate

component between the side wall assembly and roof assembly. The reason is such large radius of

bend can only be achieved by use of an intermediate component.

Roof Bearer is manufactured by shearing the sheets in the required dimensions by shearing m achine.
Then these sheets are formed into a curved shape by using a folding machine which folds it into the

required curve. Then supporting members are being cut and formed at shearing and bending

machine respectively. These members are weld with the bend sheet.This completes the

manufacturing and assembly of the Roof bearer. This is then brazed with the side wall. The
materialusedforBrazingisBrasswireelectrodetheshieldinggasusedis100%Argon.

Fig.16 Completed side wall and roof bearer assembly Fig. 17 Roof bearer welding station

So the side wall assembly is now equipped with the roof bearer and together they make the Side

wall and Roof bearer assembly.

3.4 UnderFrameManufacturing:

Fig.18InvertedUnderframe Fig.19 Cross Members being welded toUnderframe

 22

Under frame is the base of any coach on which the coach body is being build. It must be

sufficiently strong and resistant. Main components of Under Frameare:

Front part made by joining head stock andbodybolster.

Two side sills of sole bar of AC Chair car are madeofsection238x65x6.
Two side sills of sole bar of AC Power car are made ofsection238x65x8.
Two side sills of sole bar of both above coaches are made ofsection238x65x4

Two main cross members - 6mmthick

Frame – cross members made of foldedchannelsections140x50x4
Floor is made of corrugated sheets of 1.25mmthickness
Corrugated trough floor is plug welded from top with thecrossmembers.

Fig.20 Diagram Showing various sections of a Shell

Cross members are held at their respective positions also brackets are inserted between them.
These cross members are then tacked manually to fix their positions. After this under frame is

advanced to the Robotic MIG Welding station where robotic arms perform the continuous run
welding between mating parts, these robotic arms are controlled by a CNC controller based on a

program.
 23

Fig.21 CNC Robotic MIG Welding station

Then the floor made of corrugated sheets of 1.25 mm thick is plug weld from the top to the cross

members. Then the under frame is inverted and various components like yaw damper, water tank

mounting brackets are welded at their respective positions. Several other members are also welded

to under frame which is used to accommodate bogies. This completes manufacturing and assembly of

underframe.

Up to this, whatever we have studied were the major components of shell. But apart from these in
the completion of the shell body some ready to assemble components like End wall Assembly is
weld to close the ends of the coach. End wall is made of ferritic steel. To reduce its weight holes
provided in all stiffeners. The projection of side walls towards end is more. This result into more
availability of space for passengers and reduction in the gap between two coaches,thereby reduced
wind gap resistance and turbulence. The gap between two end walls is 300mmonly.
The end wall assembly is not manufactured at RCF/RBL but is brought in ready to install form and

it does not require any type of machining operation but is simply installed.
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Fig.22 End Wall assembly

3.4.1CentreBuffercoupler:Centre Buffer coupler is installed on the underframe.It is brought

as a separate unit ready to install and lifted with the help of EOT crane and placed in its

accurate position.

The coupler provides a means of mechanically connecting individual adjacent vehicles to make a
train. The coupler is located at both ends of each vehicle. When connected to a coupler of an
adjacent vehicle, it allows the vehicles to move independently to accommodate track curvatureand
elevation change while remaining connected (coupled)together.
The coupler is opened manually using the coupler operating rod and is closed automatically when
the couplers on adjacent vehicles are mated. The coupler automatically locks when fully mated.
LHB coaches have been provided with tight lock centre buffer couplers instead of screw coupling.
Couplers are AAR-H type and have anticlimbing features because of vertical interlocking.
Couplers have adequate strength for:
Satisfactory hauling of a train of 26 coaches at 110 kmph
Satisfactory hauling of a train of 18 coaches at 160 kmph
Coupling is possible under angular misalignment both horizontally and vertically. The coupler permits
coupled trains to negotiate vertical and horizontal curves and allows rotational movements.The draw gear
ensures cushioning effectivein both buff and draft.

Fig.23Schematic of CBC Fig.24Actual CBC installed on underframe

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3.5 AssemblyofShell:
We have Under frame, Side walls, Roof and Roof bearer, End wall assembly as complete

individual units. Now the only task remaining is their assembly. Various steps are involved in the

assembly of a shell are. It starts with the mounting of under frame, side walls are being carried

from their stations to the assembly station with the help of EOT crane. This side wall is positioned

and placed over the edge of under frame. Initially side walls are supported by welding them with

steel rods which are welded to the floor for making sure that the side wall is perfectly vertical and
no further displacement or movement of side wall from its specified position is possible. The

mating edge of side wall and under frame is tacked at some points manually by using MIGwelding

equipment as shown in figure 25 and 26. Manual tacking at specific distances is required to

ensure the perfect mating edge for feeding it to the robotic MIG welding machine which performs

continuousrunwelding.

Fig.25ManualMIGweldingequipment Fig.26 MIG weldingequipmentconsole

Now the roof is being carried with the help of EOT crane to the shell assembly station and is put
over the side walls. Remember the roof bearer is already brazed to the side wall. Roof is also
tacked at different points with the help of manual MIG welding equipment. This manual tacking

ensures to resist the movement of roof over the side walls. Now end wall assembly is being weld

to the open end portion oftheshell.

The shell is now moved to the CNC MIG welding machine which welds the edges and makes the
whole shell into a single solid shell. This machine uses two robotic arms whose operation is based
on a program fed to controller of CNC machine. It uses nitrogen as a shielding gas.
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Fig.27CNC MIG welding station Fig.28 Manual tacking of side wall and underframe

This completes the assembly ofShell.

3.6 SkinTensioningofShell:
After the assembly of shell, the final operation which is done is Skin Tensioning.

Fig.29Skin Tensioning Equipment Fig.30Holeplate

Fig.32Skin Tensioning Torch Fig.34 A worker doing skintensioning

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Skin Tensioning is carried out by arranging the shell body under Skin Tensioning equipment. The
electro-magnet shown with the green colour in fig.29 is raised up to the level of shell body thenthe

power supply is turned ON for the electro-magnet which activates the magnetic field result of

which the electro-magnet gets stuck with the shell body. On the inner side of the shell body the

holed iron plate is made to stick to the side wall under the action of electromagnet. Then the
tensioning torch is ignited and the side wall metal sheet visible from these holes is heat treated by

the action of hot gases at the nozzle of torch.This process completes the assembly of the shell.