Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D2/00—Arrangement of indicating or measuring devices, e.g. for temperature or viscosity of the fused mass
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D11/00—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths
  • B22D11/04—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths into open-ended moulds
  • B22D11/041—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths into open-ended moulds for vertical casting
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D11/00—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths
  • B22D11/16—Controlling or regulating processes or operations
  • B22D11/168—Controlling or regulating processes or operations for adjusting the mould size or mould taper

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a control instrument and a method for monitoring a plate of an ingot mould in a continuous casting plant.
• the present invention finds advantageous application in a continuous casting plant for the making of steel bars, to which the following disclosure will explicitly refer while not losing generality therefor.
• a continuous casting plant for the making of steel bars comprises a ladle feeding molten metal through a vertical solidification path comprising an ingot mould in which primary solidification of steel occurs.
• the ingot mould is a tubular body comprised of a set of copper plates that are cooled by a continuous circulation of cooling water.
• the ingot mould has a taper converging towards the bottom (i.e., towards the outlet) so that the cross section of the ingot mould progressively decreases from the upper inlet to the lower outlet; the taper of the ingot mould is fundamental in order to allow the ingot mould to "follow" the shrinkage of the metal consequent to temperature reduction.
• the internal surface of the ingot mould can happen to lose contact with the semisolid metal (insufficient taper), with an entailed localized reduction of the cooling capacity (in the absence of contact between ingot mould and semi-solid metal, heat transmission decreases remarkably) and therefore with the forming of undesired dishomogeneities in the semi-solid metal, or the internal surface of the ingot mould can happen to press too much on the semi-solid metal (excessive taper) with the entailed onset of undesired strains in the semi-solid metal, worsening the grade of the solidification process.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a control instrument and . a method for monitoring a plate of an ingot mould in a continuous casting plant, which control instrument and method be free from the drawbacks described above and, in particular, be easy and inexpensive to carry out.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a continuous casting plant for the making of steel bars
• FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of an upper portion of an ingot mould of the plant of Figure 1 ;
• FIG. 3 is a side view of an instrument which is manufactured in accordance with the present invention and carries out the monitoring of a plate of the ingot mould of Figure 2;
• FIG. 4 is a partially sectional front view of the instrument of Figure 3.
• Plant 1 comprises a ladle 2 feeding molten steel to an underlying tundish 3, from which the molten steel is fed to a vertical solidification path.
• the vertical solidification path comprises, at the beginning, an ingot mould 4 made of copper, in which primary solidification of steel occurs; downstream of ingot mould 4 made of copper, the vertical solidification path continues with water injectors 5.
• Plant 1 comprises a station 6 for cutting the steel bars, provided with ejector rolls 7 and a rollover cradle 8 which receives each steel bar from cutting station 6 and feeds the steel bars to an horizontally-conveying roll device 9.
• ingot mould 4 is a tubular body of parallelepiped shape and comprises four copper plates 10 which are cooled by a continuous circulation of cooling water.
• Each copper plate 10 has a predetermined inclination with respect to the vertical line and/or a specific profile in order to give ingot mould 4 a desired conicity which progressively reduces the cross section of the ingot mould 4 from top to bottom (i.e. from the upper inlet opening, which is larger, to the lower outlet opening, which is narrower).
• the function of the conicity of ingot mould 4 is that of allowing ingot mould 4 to "follow" the steel dimensional reduction consequent to temperature reduction (i.e. to primary solidification).
• control instrument 11 which is applied externally to a copper plate 0 which is part of ingot mould 4 and measures both the inclination of copper plate 10 with respect to the vertical line and the vertical profile of copper plate 10 (i.e. the shape of an external vertical wall 12 of copper plate 0 along a vertical line).
• Control instrument 1 comprises a rigid frame 13 having a plurality of feet 14, which are apt to be rested against a vertical wall 12 of plate 10; in particular, frame 13 comprises a beam 15 and a pair of transverse arms 16 , each of which is arranged perpendicularly to beam 15 and supports a pair of feet 14 arranged at opposite sides of beam 15.
• control instrument 11 comprises a support device 17, which is fixed to frame 13 and is apt to rest on an upper horizontal wall 18 of plate 10 for supporting frame 13 (i.e. for supporting control instrument 11).
• Support device 17 is shaped in such a way that the weight of control instrument 11 pushes frame 13 against vertical wall 12 of plate 10 when support device 17 rests on upper horizontal wall 18 of plate 10.
• it is the weight of control instrument 11 which ensures that feet 4 remain in contact with vertical wall 12 of plate 10, with no need for any further external intervention.
• control instrument 11 comprises a boxlike body 19 which is fixed to an upper end of frame 13 (i.e. it is head connected to an upper end of beam 13) and is mechanically connected to support device 17 (i.e. support device 17 is not directly connected to frame 13, but is indirectly connected to frame 13 through box-like body 19).
• Control instrument 11 comprises a distance measuring device 20, which oriented towards vertical wall 12 of plate 10 and is apt to measure a distance D from vertical wall 12 (that is, it measures the distance between a reading head of distance measuring device 20 and vertical wall 12).
• distance measuring device 20 is a laser distance measuring device operating without contact (i.e. the reading head of distance measuring device 20 sends a laser beam against vertical wall 12, and therefore never touches vertical wall 12).
• distance measuring device 20 is a mechanical distance measuring device, operating by contact (i.e. the reading head of distance measuring device 20 continuously touches vertical wall 12).
• Control instrument 11 comprises a moving device 21 , which is supported by frame 13 (in particular by beam 15 of frame 13) and supports distance measuring device 20 so as to move distance measuring device 20 along a vertical measuring path P; moreover, control instrument 11 comprises a position sensor 22, which detects the position of distance measuring device 20 along the vertical measuring path P.
• control instrument 11 comprises a processing unit 23, which cyclically reads distance measuring device 20 and position sensor 22 and correlates the distance D with respect to vertical wall 12 of plate 10 as measured by distance measuring device 20 with the position of distance measuring device 20 along vertical measuring path P as measured by position sensor 22 so as to obtain a profile of vertical wall 12.
• processing unit 23 is housed inside box-like body 19 and is connected to a display 24 having the "touch” function and implementing an I/O ("Input/Output") device; i.e. display 24 is used both to show information to the user and to receive instructions from the user.
• display 24 is used both to show information to the user and to receive instructions from the user.
• moving device 21 comprises a slide, which is mounted in a sliding manner along measuring path P and carries distance measuring device 20, a worm screw 25, which is arranged along measuring path P and is mechanically coupled to the slide so as to set the slide in motion when rotated, and an electric motor 26, which is mechanically coupled to an end of screw 25, so as to cause it to rotate.
• electric motor 26 is housed inside boxlike body 19.
• position sensor 22 is an angular encoder which is mechanically connected to motor 26 or to screw 25.
• worm screw 25 is replaced by a closed-loop belt, tensioned between a motorized upper pulley, which is connected to electric motor 26, and an idle lower pulley; one side of the belt is fixed to the slide carrying distance measuring device 20 and therefore, by moving the belt by means of a rotation of the motorized upper pulley, a corresponding movement of the slide (and therefore of the distance measuring device 20) is obtained along path P.
• control instrument 11 comprises a contact sensor 27, which is coupled at least to one foot 14, is connected to processing unit 23 and detects whether or not there is actually a contact of foot 14 with vertical wall 12 of plate 10; processing unit 23 detects the profile of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 only when the contact sensor 27 detects that there is actually a contact of foot 14 with vertical wall 12.
• contact sensor 27 detects the electrical conductivity existing between at least two distinct feet 14 through plate 10; in other words, if the electrical conductivity existing between at least two distinct feet 14 through plate 10 is "high" (i.e.
• Control instrument also comprises an inclinometer 28, which is connected to processing unit 23 and detects the angle of inclination of frame 13 with respect to the vertical line (therefore, it detects the angle of inclination of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 with respect to the vertical line) and is preferably housed inside boxlike body 19.
• inclinometer 28 is connected to processing unit 23 and detects the angle of inclination of frame 13 with respect to the vertical line (therefore, it detects the angle of inclination of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 with respect to the vertical line) and is preferably housed inside boxlike body 19.
• control instrument 11 for monitoring a plate 10 (or better, a vertical wall 12 of plate 10) of the ingot mould 4 is described.
• control instrument 11 Before starting the monitoring, the user couples control instrument 11 to plate 10 by initially resting support device 17 on upper horizontal wall 18 of plate 10, and then letting control instrument 11 "fall” towards vertical wall 12 of plate 10 so that feet 14 rest against vertical wall 12. It is important to observe that handles or other elements apt to be grabbed by the user can be connected to frame 13 and/or to box-like body 19, so as to enable the user to easily manipulate control instrument 11 even remaining at a certain distance from ingot mould 14.
• control instrument 11 Once control instrument 11 is coupled to plate 10, the user can start monitoring of plate 10; such a monitoring provides detecting the angle of inclination of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 with respect to the vertical line by means of inclinometer 28, and it further provides obtaining the profile of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 by moving distance measuring device 20 along path P and then correlating, as described above, the distance D with respect to vertical wall 12 of plate 10 as measured by distance measuring device 20 with the position of distance measuring device 20 along vertical measuring path P as measured by position sensor 22.
• control instrument 11 starts the monitoring of plate 10 only if contact sensor 27 detects that there is actually adequate contact of feet 14 with vertical wall 12 of plate 10.
• the angle of inclination of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 with respect to the vertical line measured by inclinometer 28 is compared to a predetermined optimal value and, in case of a significant deviation (i.e. a deviation greater than a maximum deviation allowed, which may be expressed in an absolute or relative way) it alerts about the presence of an anomalous situation.
• the profile of vertical wall 12 of plate 10 is compared punctually (i.e. point by point) with a predetermined optimal profile and, in case of a significant deviation (i.e.
• control instrument 11 has numerous advantages.
• control instrument 11 allows detecting quickly and with extreme accuracy the profile of vertical wall 12 of plate 10; thanks to this detection of the profile, it is possible to detect not only a wrong position of entire plate 10 (wrong position also detected by the measurement of inclinometer 23), but it is also possible to detect any local deformation of plate 10 (i.e. deformations concentrated in a limited zone of plate 10) which can determine local variations of the taper of the ingot mould even in the presence of a correct position of plate 10.
• control instrument 11 is of easy and intuitive use also by an inexpert user; in other words, it is possible to profitably use the above-described control instrument even after a simple reading of the instruction manual attached to the control instrument, with no need of specific training.
• control instrument is of simple and inexpensive manufacturing.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Length Measuring Devices With Unspecified Measuring Means (AREA)
• Continuous Casting (AREA)
• Length Measuring Devices By Optical Means (AREA)

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Citations (4)

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• 2011
  • 2011-05-31 IT IT000317A patent/ITBO20110317A1/it unknown
• 2012
  • 2012-05-28 WO PCT/IB2012/052661 patent/WO2012164477A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-05-28 CN CN201280025912.3A patent/CN103561887A/zh active Pending
  • 2012-05-29 EP EP12169709.8A patent/EP2529859B1/en not_active Not-in-force

Patent Citations (4)

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