The plastic materials division produces mainly insulated rail joints for several railways. For this purpose, TENCONI SA took over patents and production facilities from Benkler AG, who were present worldwide.

The pieces fabricated in our workshop in small batches find their use in signalling systems and switches and crossings.

They are made according to customer's specifications and needs. Hardomid is a trademark of a special Polyamid 12 brand, with high electro-mechanical characteristics.

Other products are low friction slide chairs, insulated baseplates and signal supports to be used in road tunnels.

TENCONI (formerly BENKLER) Insulated Rail Joints are mechanical, or, encapsulated joints that do not rely on a glued bond to perform.

Since the start in 1985, well over 100,000 TENCONI joints were put in use all over the world in all possible applications and conditions, from heavy haul to public transit, in cold, hot, dry and humid climates. Some of the users include London Underground, Hong Kong Mass Transit, Australia (ore), Estonia (oil tankers, -35 to +35°C ambient) and South Africa (coal).

Most customers switch over to TENCONI IJ’s because these joints have proven to outlast many of the conventional glued joints. For example: in a bid to reduce cost of maintenance and increase overall track reliability, the MOW Department of one particular major operator in Europe has made it standard operating procedure to replace all glued joints with TENCONI right after taking possession of new track.

TENCONI Insulated Rail Joints are made of High Tensile Steel for unsurpassed strength and are encapsulated with a special blend of Polyamide 12 for superb electro-mechanical characteristics. The installed cost is substantially lower than that of a glued joint.

Key features:

• Passed AAR Rolling Load Test at TTCI
• Tested at TTCI’s FAST HAL (315 kip car loads)
• High Tensile Steel fishplate
• “Hardomid” special grade Polyamide 12 insulation
• European Grade 10.9 bolts
• Temperature range -40/+80 °C (-40/180 F)
• Field installation takes only about 30 minutes
• No crane required
• Track can be used immediately after installation
• Installation under all weather conditions
• No glue that can crack during handling
• Joints can be disassembled and re-used
• Low installed cost

Lab testing

Over the years, various laboratory cycle tests have been performed:

• UK: 2 M cycles at 205 kN (46,000 lb)
• Italy: 4 M cycles at 240 kN (54,000 lb) resp. 300 kN (67,500 lb)
• Australia: 2 M cycles at 252 kN (56,650 lb)
• USA (TTCI/AAR) 2 M cycles at 44,000 lb*, Rolling Load Test, AREMA, Chapter 4, clause 2.11.7.2.
• TTCI FAST/HAL: 285 MGT from Mar 2006 to Dec 2007. 315 kip car loads.

* NOTE: Due to the smaller test loads as well as the bigger cross section of the rail hence fishplate, the calculated bending stresses in the 136 lb RE sample tested at TTCI / AAR are substantially lower than in European/Australian samples.

References

TENCONI IJs are used in railroads in Algeria, Australia (heavy loads, high temperature), China, Estonia (heavy loads, below -30C temperature), France, Greece, Great Britain (London Underground), Hong Kong (Mass Transit), Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia and Turkey.