Composites for the rail industry

Tufnol materials are used extensively in numerous railway applications wherever toughness, electrical strength, wear resistance or controlled fire properties is required.

Rail

Tufnol materials and CNC machined components

Harsh, aggressive operating environments require materials that can meet these challenging conditions and provide optimum performance.

It is not surprising therefore that rail engineers around the world look to Tufnol material to cope with the extreme and arduous operating conditions, while at the same time meeting the safety and quality requirements demanded in this industry sector.

A typical application is the bogie pivot pads on railway carriages. These are manufactured from a hard wearing reinforcement of medium weave cotton fabric which utilises an advanced resin system with the addition of PTFE.

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Rail

Materials

The benefits of using this material are its superior wear resistance and elimination of the need for regular lubrication thereby creating savings in maintenance costs.

Low smoke properties are crucial in Underground facilities and tunnels. We have developed materials which give exceptional performance over and above standard phenolics.

Our specially formulated resin systems result in controlled flammability, good resistance to ignition and excellent low smoke and toxicity values, as well as electrical insulation.

We can offer these as machined components or sheets of pre-impregnated material.

Phenolic Cotton
Carp, Whale, Crow

Phenolic Paper
1P13, Kite

Glass Fabric Laminates
10G/40, 10G/41, 6G/92

Phenolic Glass
10G/24

Epoxy Cotton
6F/45

Special Bearing Grades
2F/3/PTFE

Rail

Products & applications

  • Electrical Board
  • Barriers
  • Back Insulation applications
  • Handrails (10G/40 Supplied to London Underground to prevent electrical pull)
  • Washers, Bearings, Wear Plates
  • Electrical transformer insulation panels
  • Carriage Tabletops

Product list is not exhaustive. If you have specific product requirements then Tufnol can provide bespoke solutions.

Our customers include

Interested in finding out more about the applications of our materials?
Enquire here

Rail

Quality is an integral part of our culture

Our quality systems are routinely subjected to scrutiny by a number of independent inspection authorities and major international companies.

Rail

Our capabilities

Tufnol Composites has a large machining facility for the production of finished machined components from the above materials. Tufnol machine shops are equipped with advanced technology and have the capacity to meet a very wide range of customer requirements.

These include

  • Precision 3-axis
  • CNC machining
  • CNC turning
  • Traditional universal machining
  • Reverse Engineering Bonding capabilities of Tufnol materials to a wide range of compatible engineering materials.

Why Tufnol?

100 Years in business
Fast, efficient service
Top quality materials
On site manufacture

Speak to the team