EP2100676A1 - Continuous cast method - Google Patents
Continuous cast method Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP2100676A1 EP2100676A1 EP08106006A EP08106006A EP2100676A1 EP 2100676 A1 EP2100676 A1 EP 2100676A1 EP 08106006 A EP08106006 A EP 08106006A EP 08106006 A EP08106006 A EP 08106006A EP 2100676 A1 EP2100676 A1 EP 2100676A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- melt
- mould
- ports
- splash shield
- nozzle
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
- B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
- B22D41/00—Casting melt-holding vessels, e.g. ladles, tundishes, cups or the like
- B22D41/50—Pouring-nozzles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
- B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
- B22D7/00—Casting ingots, e.g. from ferrous metals
- B22D7/12—Appurtenances, e.g. for sintering, for preventing splashing
Abstract
Description
- The invention relates to a continuous cast method, wherein a melt is supplied into a frame-shaped mould through a top opening of the mould by a nozzle having at least two opposing ports, until a surface level of the melt reaches a steady state position above the ports, and wherein in a steady state condition, an at least superficially solidified casting is drawn through a bottom opening of the mould opposite to the top opening, at a velocity corresponding to the flow rate of the melt, thus basically keeping the surface level in the steady state position.
- The continuous strip cast process is well-known since the mid of the 19th century and is currently employed with the major part of steel production world-wide, including plain carbon, alloy and stainless steel grades in different shapes and sizes. These include large rectangular slabs (having cross sections from 0.5 cm x 50 cm up to 25 cm x 220 cm) and basically square blooms (up to 40 cm x 60 cm), small square or circular billets □ (10 cm up to 20 cm of diameter) as well as other, e.g. dog -bone shapes.
- The melt flows from a ladle to a tundish and further through a ceramic nozzle that is attached to the tundish into the mould. Once in the mould, the melt freezes against the water-cooled walls of the bottomless copper mould to form a thin solidified shell of the casting. After exiting the mould, the shell forms a container supporting the remaining liquid melt in the casting. While the tundish provides a continuous stream of melt to the mould, even during exchange of the ladle, the process runs in steady state.
- In modem continuous slab cast assemblies, the mould is assembled from four separate copper walls: Two broad walls are fixed to the assembly and two narrow walls are movable towards an axis of symmetry of the mould, thus allowing adjustment of the slab width even during the cast process. After machining and assembly of the mould, the gaps between the broad and the narrow walls are limited to about 0.3 mm. In operation, thermal deformation as well as wearing of the copper walls allow these gaps to increase up to 1.5 mm without impacting the cast process. In steady state condition of the continuous cast process, the melt surface as well as the surface of the thin shell of the casting is covered by liquid slag, both thermally insulating the copper walls from the steel melt and lubricating the gap between the mould and the casting.
- The nozzle has lateral ports, forcing the melt stream to protrude at basically right angles to the narrow walls of the mould, thus inducing a forced flow in the melt. Opposing pairs of drive rolls underneath the bottom opening of the mould continuously both withdraw the casting from the mould at a velocity (or casting speed) corresponding the flow rate of t he melt into the mould and bend the casting from the initially vertical to a horizontal direction. Further solidification of the casting is driven by cooling water or air mist sprays between the rolls.
- For starting the cast process, the bottom opening is plugged with a dummy bar□ and the empty mould is filled with melt like in a conventional mould cast. While the surface level of the melt rises to a previously defined steady state position above the ports of the nozzle (also SEN, Submerged Entry Nozzle)□ , the shell begins to solidify both on top of the dummy bar and on the walls of the mould. After the surface level reaches the steady state position, the dummy bar is withdrawn from the bottom opening carrying along the casting by means of the drive rolls.
- The most critical phase of the starting procedure of the known process is the initial filling of the empty mould through up to 1.5 m of plain air: The melt splatters into the mould and spills onto the cooled copper walls, primarily to the narrow walls of the mould. Striking the cold walls, small spillings of melt abruptly become solid, forming sharp-edged shapes that above all firmly adhere to the walls. A similar effect regularly occurs in flying tundish change during the cast process as provided by modem cast processes in order to significantly reduce downtime of the assembly: While the melt surface inside the mould falls below the ports level, the newly starting melt stream again falls up to 1.2 m through plain air.
- Because these solidified spillings are mainly embedded to the insulating slag instead of the streaming melt in the continuous cast process, they mostly do not melt, but instead not only obstruct the relative movement between the mould and the casting, but they are scratching the thin solidifying shell. Failing to close, the resulting notches extend over the length of the casting. Apart from the visible quality defect, these notches are severe weakness points in the thin shell of the casting: In particular when bending the casting from vertical to horizontal direction, the thin shell may burst open in these notches, spilling the liquid metal from inside both over the drive rolls and over nearby parts of the casting assembly. This dreaded accident (breakout accident)□ regularly involves not only interruption of the cast process, but damages the assembly, requires repair and tidying and overall causes serious loss of productivity.
- Furthermore, the above mentioned solidified spilling mostly occur around the narrow walls and in particular near the mechanically delicate gaps between the narrow and the broad walls of the mould. Spillings to the gaps not only boost wearing of the mould when adjusting the slab width but are in particular initial nuclei for formation of skull inside the mould.
- The invention intends to reduce spillings and related drawbacks during the starting procedure.
- Based on the previously known continuous cast method, the invention suggests that a splash shield is mounted to the nozzle and prevents spillings of the melt protruding from the ports from hitting the mould, and that the splash shield is molten by the surrounding melt at least in the steady state condition. The lost splash shield of the invention is effective only during the most critical phase of the starting procedure, namely while the melt is initially filling the mould through plain air. In this period, it shields the walls of the mould from melt spillings protruding from the nozzle ports. While the melt rises over the ports, the splash shield is molten and itself becomes unrecognizable part of the melt. For the following continuous process, the ports of the nozzle are unshielded, thus inducing the necessary flow into the melt in the mould.
- In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the splash shield deflects a melt stream basically protruding from one of the ports at right angles to a wall of the mould, to a direction basically parallel to the wall. The stream of melt thus is guided towards the dummy bar at the bottom of the mould, where spillings forming notches do not impact the thin shell of the casting.
- Preferably the splash shield further deflects the melt stream to an axis of symmetry of the mould. Streams of melt protruding from different ports of the nozzle thus are guided towards each other, and are mutually reducing flow rate and impetus. The resulting steadied stream of melt produces less spillings and rather flows than splatters into the mould.
- In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the nozzle is attached to a bottom of a tundish, that is filled with the melt from a ladle. Using a tundish instead of filling the mould directly from the ladle allows for providing a continuous stream of melt to the mould, even during exchange of the ladle.
- In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the casting is drawn vertically from the mould and bent to a horizontal direction through paired support rolls. In this inventive cast method the initial casting direction equals to the direction of gravitational force, providing uniformity of the forced flow of melt inside the mould and the of the final casting.
- The invention further suggests a splash shield for use with one of the above described methods, comprising a bar for penetrating the opposing ports of the nozzle and thus mounting the splash shield to the nozzle. After inserting the bar through the nozzle, the splash shield is firmly attached to the nozzle in a very simple manner.
- In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bar has a tubular shape with a centred inlet opening for the melt and outlet openings for the melt at both ends. The melt thus flows through the bar. Where the bar only forms the splash shield, handling, in particular mounting of the shield to the nozzle is significantly simplified.
- In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the splash shield has an annular ring for surrounding the nozzle above the ports, and further has deflectors being attached to the annular ring, wherein in a mounted position of the splash shield the deflectors are assigned to the ports for deflecting melt streams from the ports to an axis of symmetry of the mould. This splash shield provides for significantly steadying the stream of melt as described above.
- The invention not only provides for better surface quality of the casting product and enhances the productivity of the process by reducing the risk of shell bursts, but also significantly eases the starting of a continuous strip cast process.
- Apart from the starting of the continuous strip cast process, the splash shield of the invention may also be effectively applied with flying tundish change, wherein the surface level of the melt is allowed to fall below the top edge of the ports of the nozzle.
- In the following, the invention will be illustrated in exemplary embodiments. As shown in
- Fig. 1a
- a sketch view of a continuous cast assembly,
- Fig. 1b
- a sketch detail of the cast assembly, showing the nozzle inside the mould and
- Fig. 1c
- a perspective detail of the nozzle inside the mould,
- Fig. 2a
- a first inventive splash shield,
- Fig. 2b
- the first splash shield mounted to the nozzle and
- Fig. 2c
- a flow view of the melt through the first splash shield,
- Fig. 3a
- a second inventive splash shield,
- Fig. 3b
- the second splash shield mounted to the nozzle and
- Fig. 3c
- a flow view of the melt through the second splash shield.
- The continuous cast assembly shown in
figure 1a and in detail infigures 1b and1c includes aladle 2 and atundish 3 underneath theladle 2. Theladle 2 providessteel melt 4 to thetundish 3. Aceramic nozzle 5 is mounted to thetundish 3 and protruding through atop opening 6 of a frame-shapedmould 7, ending between the copper, water-cooledwalls 8 of themould 7. - From the
tundish 3, themelt 4 is provided into themould 7 through two opposingports 9 of thenozzle 5. In steady state condition of the cast process (as shown infigures 1a and 1b ), thesurface level 10 of themelt 4 is basically kept in a defined steady state position above theports 9. Inside themould 7, at thecold surface 11 of thewalls 8, themelt 4 solidifies to form athin shell 12 of the casting 13. - Underneath a
bottom opening 14 of themould 7, theassembly 1 includes a sequence of paired drive rolls 15 for withdrawing the casting 13 from themould 7, and for bending it from vertical to horizontal direction. Along with the drive rolls 15, the casting 13 is cooled by means of water sprays (not shown in the drawing). - The first embodiment of a
splash shield 16 as shown infigure 2a is welded from steel sheets of 3 mm thickness to form abar 17 with tubular shape. Theshield 16 has alength 18 of 40 cm and a squared cross-section of 64 mm of height 19 and 54 mm ofwidth 20. Thesplash shield 16 has a brick-shapedstopper 21 welded to itsupper surface 22, aninlet opening 23 in theupper surface 22 and twooutlet openings 24 in thelower surface 25 at both ends 26. - Before starting the cast process, the
splash shield 16 is inserted through theports 9 into thenozzle 5 until thestopper 21 hits thesurface 27 of thenozzle 5 as shown infigure 2b . After assembly, a slide gate (not shown) underneath thetundish 3 is opened, themelt 4 flows through the inlet opening 23 into theshield 16 and flows out of theshield 16 through theoutlet openings 24 as shown infigure 2c . - The alternative second embodiment of a
splash shield 28 as shown infigure 3a is evenly welded from steel sheets of 3 mm thickness. Thesecond splash shield 28 has anannular ring 29 having adiameter 30 of about 14 cm and carrying twodeflectors 31. Thedeflectors 31 are box-shaped having aheight 32 of 16 cm andwidth 33 of 15 cm. The outward surfaces 34 of thedeflectors 31 are arranged to have a distance of about 33 cm. Thesecond splash shield 28 has aseparate bar 35 from a bevelled steel sheet of 3 mm thickness and 5cm width 36. Thedeflectors 31 haveslits 37 for inserting thebar 35 to thesplash shield 28. - Before starting the cast process, the
nozzle 5 is positioned into theannular ring 29 of thealternative splash shield 28 and thebar 35 is inserted through theslits 37 and through theports 9 into thenozzle 5 until astopper 38 of thebar 35 hits the outward surface of thedeflector 31 as shown infigure 3b . After assembly, themelt 4 first is guided by thebar 35 to flow into thedeflectors 31 and afterwards to flow out of thesplash shield 28 as shown infigure 3c . - Both the
first splash shield 16 and the alternativesecond splash shield 28 are molten at least after they are belowsurface level 10 of themelt 4, thus becoming part of themelt 4 themselves. - In the figures there are
- 1
- Assembly
- 2
- Ladle
- 3
- Tundish
- 4
- Melt
- 5
- Nozzle
- 6
- Top opening
- 7
- Mould
- 8
- Wall
- 9
- Port
- 10
- Surface level
- 11
- Surface
- 12
- Thin shell
- 13
- Casting
- 14
- Bottom opening
- 15
- Drive roll
- 16
- Splash shield
- 17
- Bar
- 18
- Length
- 19
- Height
- 20
- Width
- 21
- Stopper
- 22
- Upper surface
- 23
- Inlet opening
- 24
- Outlet opening
- 25
- Lower surface
- 26
- End
- 27
- Surface
- 28
- Splash shield
- 29
- Annular ring
- 30
- Diameter
- 31
- Deflector
- 32
- Height
- 33
- Width
- 34
- Outward surface
- 35
- Bar
- 36
- Width
- 37
- Slit
- 38
- Stopper
Claims (8)
- Continuous cast method, wherein a melt (4) is supplied into a frame-shaped mould (7) through a top opening (6) of the mould (7) by a nozzle (5) having at least two opposing ports (9), until a surface level (10) of the melt (4) reaches a steady state position above the ports (9), and wherein in a steady state condition, an at least superficially solidified casting (13) is drawn through a bottom opening (14) of the mould (7) opposite to the top opening (6), at a velocity corresponding to the flow rate of the melt (4), thus basically keeping the surface level (10) in the steady state position, characterized in that a splash shield (16, 28) is mounted to the nozzle (5) and prevents spillings of the melt (4) protruding from the ports (9) from hitting the mould (7), and that the splash shield (16, 28) is molten by the surrounding melt (4) at least in the steady state condition.
- Continuous cast method as claimed in the preceding claim, characterized in that the splash shield (16, 28) deflects a melt (4) stream basically protruding from one of the ports (9) at right angles to a wall (8) of the mould (7), to a direction basically parallel to the wall (8).
- Continuous cast method as claimed in the preceding claim, characterized in that the splash shield (28) further deflects the melt (4) stream to an axis of symmetry of the mould (7).
- Continuous cast method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the nozzle (5) is attached to a bottom of a tundish (3), that is filled with the melt (4) from a ladle (2).
- Continuous cast method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the casting (13) is drawn vertically from the mould (7) and bent to a horizontal direction by means of paired support rolls (15).
- Splash shield (16, 28) for use with one of the above claimed methods, comprising a bar (17, 35) for penetrating the opposing ports (9) of the nozzle (5) and thus mounting the splash shield (16, 28) to the nozzle (5).
- Splash shield (16) as claimed in the preceding claim, characterized in that the bar (17) has a tubular shape with a centred inlet opening (23) for the melt (4) and outlet openings (24) for the melt (4) at both ends (26).
- Splash shield (28) as claimed in claim 6 or 7, characterized by an annular ring (29) for surrounding the nozzle (5) above the ports (9), and further characterized by deflectors (31) being attached to the annular ring (29), wherein in a mounted position of the splash shield (28) the deflectors (31) are assigned to the ports (9) for deflecting melt (4) streams from the ports (9) to an axis of symmetry of the mould (7).
Priority Applications (7)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
SI200830707T SI2100676T1 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2008-12-17 | Continuous cast method |
ES08106006T ES2388900T3 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2008-12-17 | Continuous Casting Procedure |
PL08106006T PL2100676T3 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2008-12-17 | Continuous cast method |
EP08106006A EP2100676B1 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2008-12-17 | Continuous cast method |
SK50063-2009U SK5440Y1 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2009-08-03 | Continuous cast method |
ZA200908972A ZA200908972B (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2009-12-17 | Continuous cast method |
EA200901560A EA018656B1 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2009-12-17 | Continuous cast method and arrangement therefor |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP08106006A EP2100676B1 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2008-12-17 | Continuous cast method |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP2100676A1 true EP2100676A1 (en) | 2009-09-16 |
EP2100676B1 EP2100676B1 (en) | 2012-06-06 |
Family
ID=40578935
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP08106006A Active EP2100676B1 (en) | 2008-12-17 | 2008-12-17 | Continuous cast method |
Country Status (7)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP2100676B1 (en) |
EA (1) | EA018656B1 (en) |
ES (1) | ES2388900T3 (en) |
PL (1) | PL2100676T3 (en) |
SI (1) | SI2100676T1 (en) |
SK (1) | SK5440Y1 (en) |
ZA (1) | ZA200908972B (en) |
Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3189315A (en) * | 1962-12-28 | 1965-06-15 | Ralph A Verna | Teeming gate with consumable anti-splash shield |
EP0771600A1 (en) * | 1995-10-30 | 1997-05-07 | Usinor Sacilor | Immersion discharge nozzle with bottom orifices for the introduction of molten metal in a mould for continuous casting of metallic products |
EP0950453A1 (en) * | 1998-04-14 | 1999-10-20 | LTV Steel Company, Inc. | Submerged entry nozzle |
Family Cites Families (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE1959097C2 (en) * | 1969-11-20 | 1973-10-04 | Mannesmann Ag, 4000 Duesseldorf | Device in continuous casting for distributing eggs molten steel |
IT1267242B1 (en) * | 1994-05-30 | 1997-01-28 | Danieli Off Mecc | UNLOADER FOR THIN SLABS |
DE19724232C2 (en) * | 1997-06-03 | 1999-04-15 | Mannesmann Ag | Method and device for producing slabs |
RU2247625C1 (en) * | 2003-09-01 | 2005-03-10 | Хлопонин Виктор Николаевич | Method for acting upon chemical composition of melt steel before continuous casting process and during such process and crater formation preventing apparatus for performing the method |
-
2008
- 2008-12-17 PL PL08106006T patent/PL2100676T3/en unknown
- 2008-12-17 ES ES08106006T patent/ES2388900T3/en active Active
- 2008-12-17 SI SI200830707T patent/SI2100676T1/en unknown
- 2008-12-17 EP EP08106006A patent/EP2100676B1/en active Active
-
2009
- 2009-08-03 SK SK50063-2009U patent/SK5440Y1/en unknown
- 2009-12-17 ZA ZA200908972A patent/ZA200908972B/en unknown
- 2009-12-17 EA EA200901560A patent/EA018656B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Patent Citations (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3189315A (en) * | 1962-12-28 | 1965-06-15 | Ralph A Verna | Teeming gate with consumable anti-splash shield |
EP0771600A1 (en) * | 1995-10-30 | 1997-05-07 | Usinor Sacilor | Immersion discharge nozzle with bottom orifices for the introduction of molten metal in a mould for continuous casting of metallic products |
EP0950453A1 (en) * | 1998-04-14 | 1999-10-20 | LTV Steel Company, Inc. | Submerged entry nozzle |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EA018656B1 (en) | 2013-09-30 |
SK500632009U1 (en) | 2009-11-05 |
EA200901560A1 (en) | 2010-08-30 |
SI2100676T1 (en) | 2012-10-30 |
SK5440Y1 (en) | 2010-05-07 |
ES2388900T3 (en) | 2012-10-19 |
ZA200908972B (en) | 2010-08-25 |
EP2100676B1 (en) | 2012-06-06 |
PL2100676T3 (en) | 2012-11-30 |
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