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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>STUDY OF A PLASMA TORCH FOR IMPROVING ADHESION. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF PLASMA TORCH EQUIPMENT</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/15196</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In extensive laboratory and track trials the plasma torch has been demonstrated as a tool for improving wheel-rail adhesion at speeds up to 48 km/h.  The plasma treatment was found to be effective under a wide range of climatic conditions with contaminants generally found on the British Railways network.  These included oil, grease, diesel fuel, coal dust and fallen leaves.  In view of this success, a vehicle, to be put into service on British Railways, has been designed and is now under construction.  This will be used mainly on the coal haulage routes where low adhesion is frequently encountered.  This plasma car will operate independently of the freight locomotives and will act as a rail conditioning vehicle.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>STUDY OF A PLASMA TORCH FOR IMPROVING ADHESION. OPERATIONAL RESULTS AND PRELIMINARY LOW TEMPERATURE STUDIES</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/15197</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In the first part of the report the results obtained during the systematic use of plasma torches on two railway lines worked by heavily loaded coal trains are described.  Under the special conditions applicable to these tests the adhesion required for avoiding wheel slipping phenomena had been reached and maintained for approximately 6 hours under unfavourable climatic conditions.  In the second part, some tentative ideas concerning the maintenance of the plasma torch equipment and the special plasma vehicle are indicated.  Finally the third part of the report deals with the problem of the use of plasma torches at very low temperature (ignition of torches, melting of ice on rails).]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>STUDY OF A PLASMA TORCH FOR IMPROVING ADHESION. THE EFFECT OF THE PLASMA TORCH ON RAIL HEAD CONTAMINATION</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/15198</link>
      <description><![CDATA[A study of surface contaminants before and after exposure to a plasma torch has shown no evidence of any prominent chemical change being brought about.  Laboratory tests have confirmed that oily contamination is removed by the plasma torch.  Track tests following a plasma torch rail car indicate that the persistence of the conditioning on running rails is dependent on the effect of subsequent trains.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/15198</guid>
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      <title>STUDY OF A PLASMA TORCH FOR IMPROVING ADHESION. FINAL OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE PLASMA TORCH TRAIN</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/15199</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Data is given on two trials with plasma equipment on the Eastern and Southern Regions of British Rail.  Although insufficient data was obtained for a proper statistical evaluation, these trials indicate that any immediate benefit which the plasma torch may confer is not sustained sufficiently to be of benefit to subsequent traffic.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/15199</guid>
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      <title>STUDY OF A PLASMA TORCH FOR IMPROVING ADHESION. LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS TO SIMULATE RAIL SURFACES</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/10415</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The laboratory tests described in the previous partial report (B114/RP 3) have now been completed.  They confirm that the plasma torch improved adhesion more by eliminating the pollution caused by oil, than by modifying the chemical properties of the metal.  In the case of certain particularly dense films of oil, an improvement in adhesion may require the torch to be used several times, and its efficacity decreases if the surface of the rail is rough, or covered with foreign matter.  Although the water on the rail surface may have been evacuated to the side by air pressure, the quantity of oil which it is possible to remove from a wet surface is very small, or even nil.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 1976 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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