CONTINUOUS CASTING SYSTEMS - AN INTRODUCTION

E. S. Szekeres
Overview
Steel is societys most widely-used metal. The production of usable steel products requires a step in
which molten metal is converted into solid. By the
middle of the 20th century, the most common procedure for this conversion was the teeming of liquid
metal from a ladle into one or more cast-iron molds.
The solidified metal, after separation from the mold,
 
dure is referred to as ingot casting. However,
large-size ingots need to be hot-worked in primary
mills into more-manageable semifinished forms (or
semis) such as slabs, blooms, or billets; a rather
capital-intensive step.
The idea of converting liquid metal directly into
semi-shaped solids in a more-or-less continuous
fashion appeared as early as 1840, in a patent
describing the casting of lead. The process that
evolved became known as continuous casting (also
called strand casting). Initially, only nonferrous
metals such as brass could be strand cast successfully. The strand casting of steel was found to be
more problematic because of higher liquid temperatures, lower thermal diffusivity, and a relatively
slow solidification rate. Nevertheless, within a few
decades following World War II strand casting of
steel finally began to emerge as a commerciallyviable process (a century after the initial concept!).
In the USA, the first strand casters for steel
production were primarily experimental (pilot) units.
In 1946 a pilot caster was installed at a Babcock &
Wilcox plant in Beaver Falls, PA. Soon after,
another pilot facility began operating at Allegheny
Ludlum in Watervliet, NY. However, the first
commercial unit for casting steel in North America
was installed in Canada. That caster started up in
January, 1954, at Atlas Steels Ltd. in Welland, Ont.
It took another nine years before the first commercial caster for steel in the USA began production at
Roanoke Electric Steel Corp. in Roanoke, VA, in
July, 1962.
As process improvements were made, the use of
strand casting to produce steel semis grew steadily
(along with the basic oxygen steelmaking process).
By the late 1960s, strand casting began to replace

ingot casting as the primary method for converting

liquid steel into solid. However, implementation
lagged a bit in the USA, possibly because of extensive prior-investment in ingot casting facilities. At
the end of the 1970s, only 17 percent of the steel
produced in the USA was strand cast. However, the
picture eventually changed and now well-over 90
percent of liquid steel produced in the USA and other
industrialized countries is fed into strand casting
machines.
In comparison to ingot casting, which is a multistep batch process followed by primary rolling, strand
casting requires less capital equipment and less energy consumption. Other benefits include; more efficient material flow through the plant; better yield;
better product uniformity; and larger product units,
e.g., sheet-steel coils over 1000 lbs/inch-width.
Conventional Strand Casting
In conventional strand casting, a refractory-lined
ladle of liquid metal, often finalized in chemistry and/
or temperature at a ladle metallurgy station, is emptied through a bottom valve (gate system) into a
smaller intermediate refractory-lined reservoir, i.e.,
tundish, Figure 1. From the tundish, the liquid is
channeled precisely into one or more water-cooled
copper-walled mold(s). In this primary cooling step
the mold system quickly extracts heat from the contained liquid, causing a solid shell to form on the mold
walls. As new solid continues to form at or near the
liquid level in the mold, it is simultaneously withdrawn in a steady fashion. To attach this new solid
THE STRAND CASTING PROCESS

Ladle
Liquid
Shroud
tube

Tundish

Open stream or
Gas shrouded stream or
Submerged entry nozzle

Oscillating Mold

Foot rolls

Sprays

Strand
containment
rolls

Strand

Drive rolls

Cut-off

Semi

End of liquid core

Fig 1

to pre-existing solid in a positive manner, the mold is

rapidly oscillated up-and-down (reciprocated) over a
short distance.

into long products (profiles, structurals, flats, bar, rod,

wire, etc.), or flat products (plate, sheet, strip).
If a strand is not reduced by rolling within the
caster (e.g., by liquid-core reduction or in-line rolling), then the cross-sectional shape of the semi is
essentially the same as the mold cavity. Although
caster semis may resemble, in shape, semis rolled
from ingots, they have an important difference_they
have a delicate as-cast structure. (As-cast slabs have
been known to break into pieces upon being flippedover at an inspection bed.) In ingot casting, the ascast counterpart is the ingot itself.

The continuous casting process creates a liquidcontaining ribbon-like body generically called a
strand. Tractive effort to move the emerging strand
through the casting machine (caster) is provided and
controlled by motor-driven rolls (drives), which positively contact the strand at several locations below the
mold. By balancing the mass withdrawal rate of the
strand with the mass rate at which liquid enters the
mold the liquid level in the mold is kept relatively
constant. Beyond mold exit, water is usually sprayed
onto the strand as a secondary cooling step to obtain a
desired strand surface temperature profile and to cool
the contacting rolls and/or adjacent equipment. However, some casters are designed so that secondary
spray-cooling of the strand is not required. This is
sometimes referred to as dry casting.

Cast initiation. The casting of a strand is

initiated after insertion of a starter bar ("dummy
bar") into the line. Starter bars come in four basic
styles, Figure 2. The type incorporated into a caster
depends on caster design and plant operating needs.
For example, a top-charged starter bar may be
advantageous over a bottom-charged version if
minimizing caster turnaround time is deemed
important.

The time required to solidify a strand cross

section is determined by its thickness. For a given
strand thickness, typical steady-state withdrawal
speeds, when casting steel, are such that a fairly long
liquid core is established within the strand. Consequently, the length of liquid core is considerably
longer than the length of the mold itself.

STRAND STARTER (DUMMY) BARS

Flexible Top-Charged

The metallurgical length of a strand is the distance, measured along the strand, from the liquid
level in the mold (the meniscus) to a cross-sectional
plane containing the assumed point of complete
solidification. With thicker sections and typical
casting speeds the liquid core can extend well over
100 feet (31 m), making the strand, in effect, a very
long tank of liquid steel! A corollary term, the
metallurgical length of a caster, refers to the longest
liquid core allowed by the machines design.

Dummy Bar Head (Stool)

Rigid Curved

Flexible Bottom-Charged
Rigid Vertical

Fig 2

The head-end of the starter bar, often called the

stool, forms a temporary bottom for the mold. To
prevent leakage of liquid at startup, operators pack
the narrow space between the stool and the mold
wall(s) with noncombustible material and usually
add some type of metallic chill stock atop the stool.

Semis are obtained at the exit-end of the caster,

beyond the end of liquid core, by intermittently cutting off desired lengths from the leading end of the
emerging strand. The lengths cut may be dictated by
final product needs or by reheat furnace limitations.
Cutting may be done by a shear, gas torch(s), plasma
torch(s), or a hot saw. In most cases, the cutting unit
is temporarily clamped onto the moving strand
during the severing operation. The route of the
resulting semis depends on the type of operation and
the intended product. The cross-sectional shape of
the cast strand determines if the semis are processed

As liquid metal enters the mold, the watercooled walls, the stool, and the pre-added chill-scrap
together extract heat rapidly from the liquid. A solid
shell quickly forms, which casts-in an interlocking
connection with the stool. When the mold is nearly
full, the starter bar and the connected new solid shell

begin to be withdrawn at a prescribed rate and casting proceeds. After the strand becomes long enough
to be contacted and controlled by drive-rolls, the
head-end of the strand is disconnected from the
starter bar in some fashion.

The aspect ratio of a cast section is simply the

width divided by the thickness dimension, Figure 4.
The aspect ratio of a square or round section is 1/1.
In comparison, a slab section generally has an aspect
ratio greater than about 3/1 and most range from 6/1
to 14/1. Thin slabs may have aspect ratios up to
30/1. The aspect ratio of a strand has a profound
effect on the extent of broad face bulging during
casting as well as the intensity of segregation at the
centerline of the as-cast product. Based on solidification structure alone, an ideal aspect ratio for a
bloom section appears to be around 1.3/1 (coincidently, the same aspect ratio as the 8 - by-11-inch
sheet of paper on which this page is printed).

Cast sections. Some commonly-cast sections

are shown in Figure 3. The term billet usually
refers to a semi that is less than about 6 to 7 inches
(150 to 175 mm) square. A bloom is a rectangular
section or a larger square section. Bloom sections as
large as about 15 by 24 inches (380 x 610 mm) are
cast. Many billet/bloom casters also cast rounds and
rounds can be over 20 inches (508 mm) in diameter.
A company in China, Xingcheng Special Steel, casts
the worlds biggest diameter round at 900 mm (35.4
in). A beam blank section (sometimes called a "dog
bone" section) is specifically used to source I-beam
and/or H-beam production. Some large-sized beam
blanks are relatively thin and near-net shape. Also,smaller strand sections may be non-symmetrical.

DEFINING ASPECT RATIO

w
d

Billet or Round =

CROSS SECTION OF SOME AS-CAST SEMIS

BILLET

< 6 x 6 in ( 150 mm sq )

ROUND

5 to 35.5 in
( 127 to 900 mm )

1
1

<

2.5
1

NON-SYMETRICAL

d
BEAM BLANK

Slab

2.5
1

to

30
1
Fig 4

JUMBO SLAB

12 to 16 in ( 300 to 400 mm ) thick

CONVENTIONAL SLAB

6 to 12 in ( 150 to 300 mm ) thick

INTERMEDIATE SLAB

>

BLOOM

NEAR-NET

CONVENTIONAL
BEAM BLANK

Bloom

Caster configurations. The number of independent strands fed by one ladle is often used to
describe a casting machine. A single-strand or a
dual-strand configuration is common for slab casting, Figure 5. In dual-strand casters, each strand has
an independent set of drive rolls. Therefore, casting
speed need not be the same for both strands.

3 to 6 in ( 80 to 150 mm ) thick

THIN SLAB

2 to 3 in ( 50 to 80 mm ) thick

STRIP

0.25 in ( 6 mm ) thick, or less

Fig 3

The cross-section of slab semis for flat-rolled

product is a wide rectangle. Thin slabs are usually
from 2 to 3 inches (50 to 75 mm) thick. Intermediate slabs; are between 3 and 6 inches (75 to 150
mm) thick. Conventional slabs (once called thick
slabs) range from about 6 to 12 inches (150 to 305
mm) in thickness. However, even thicker jumbo
slab sections are now being cast. For example slabs
15 inches (400 mm) thick are cast at Dillinger
Htte in Germany and at Qinhuangdao Shouqin
Metal Material Co. in China. Slab sections with a
width a little over 126 inches (3.2 m) wide have
been cast. Such a width is similar to the width of a
lane in a modern super-roadway! Although not
really a slab, sections -inch (6 mm) thick or
thinner are cast on strip casters.

Fig 5

Narrower widths allow for multi-strands, Figure

6 (top). Commercial billet casters commonly have 4,
5, or 6 strands, with some having as many as 8 strands.
Interestingly, a unique 4-strand slab caster was
installed at a plant in Weirton, WV. There, the
casting ladle had two exit valves, simultaneously
supplying two individual tundishes. In turn, each
tundish fed two separate strands. The facility was once
described as back-to-back dual-strand casters.

vertical (stick) slab caster was installed recently at

BaoSteels Special Steel Branch in Shanghai, China,
for the production of highly-alloyed steels. Apparently, their alloys can not be cast free of cracks if the
strand is bent and/or straightened.

Fig 7

The idea for bending and straightening a strand

to render it horizontal prior to cutting has been
credited to Irving Rossi (the "father" of Concast,
AG). He reportedly got the idea in 1956 after witnessing a chance strand cutting failure on a straightmold stick machine at Nyby Bruks in Sweden.
Bending/straightening was soon incorporated into
the design of that caster. By the end of that year,
another billet caster with strand bending and
straightening (after complete solidification) began
operating at the Barrow plant of United Steel
Companies, Ltd., in Furness, England. However,
some acknowledgement should be also given to W.
F. Cartwright of the Steel Company of Wales. In a
South Wales Institute of Engineers meeting on
March 17, 1955, he suggested a 3-roll bender for
delivery of the strand from vertical to horizontal.

Fig 6

Some modern slab casters are designed to be

combi-casters in which a slab-type mold can be
readily-modified or replaced by a mold that provides
two or more strands of narrower width. Most combicasters are designed for twin-casting but some can
also triple-cast, Figure 6 (bottom). With such
casters, the strands (2 or 3) are driven by a common
set of drive rolls, which means that all strands
necessarily have the same withdrawal speed. Conversely, independent strands have a dedicated set of
drive rolls that control the rate of withdrawal.
The overall profile of the strand is another
characterizing feature of casters, Figure 7. With
"stick" casters, liquid from the tundish flows into a
vertically-positioned straight-sided mold. The strand
is also maintained straight and vertical and is not
bent or straightened. Beyond the point of complete
solidification, the strand is severed into appropriate
lengths and the semis are rotated to the horizontal
for delivery downstream.

Irrespective of who came up with the idea first,

bending/straightening allowed a big increase in
caster productivity without incurring the need for
additional building height. Such casters are often
referred to as bow-type. Even greater productivity
came about as methods were developed to not only
bend the strand but also to straighten it successfully
at points where a liquid core is still present.

Stick casters were common in the early days of

commercial strand casting (e.g., the first casters in
Canada and the USA). Although still used for casting nonferrous metals, stick casters are now relatively rare for casting carbon steel. However, a

Further lowering of head height can is obtained

by casting into a mold having a designed constant
radius-of-curvature, which is imparted to the strand.
On curved-mold casters the strand needs only to be

about 2/1, the required containment length is less

than the metallurgical length of the strand. But
containment length also depends on strand section
thickness, casting speed, and quality requirements.
It turns out that wider strands with an aspect ratio
over about 2.5/1 usually need properly-spaced containment rolls along the entire metallurgical length
of the strand; otherwise there is a risk of "whale"
formation (exaggerated or catastrophic bulging).

straightened to render horizontal delivery. The first

casting of steel through a curved mold occurred on
March 6, 1963, on a pilot billet caster at the von
Moos Steelworks in Switzerland. After proving to
be successful, curved-mold casters quickly became
popular. On the other hand, the majority of modern
thin stab casters are straight-mold machines.
The technical and cost differences between
straight-mold and curved-mold casters are debated,
at times. It is true that with curved-mold casters a
problem may occur when casting insufficiently clean
liquid. This may result in semis having an accumulation of nonmetallic inclusions and/or argon
bubbles toward the top-side, Figure 8. This top-side
accumulation can result in surface seams on rolled
product, e.g., "pencil pipe." Because of these problems, numerous curved-mold slab casters have been
converted to straight-mold machines.

CONTAINMENT LENGTH vs METALLURGICAL LENGTH

Liq

Liq

Containment
Length
P

d of
Instea
me
rolls, so
ha ve a
casters
em at
st
sy
grid
it
mold ex

Metallurgical
Length

INCLUSION ENTRAPMENT IN CURVED

MOLD CASTERS
Fig 9
Nonmetallics and/or bubbles
in the incoming stream
CONTAINMENT REQUIREMENTS
Billet Caster

Quarter point accumulation

in the as-cast semi

Bloom Caster

Fig 8

Slab Caster

The pressure of liquid steel within the strand

core increases about 3.2 psi/ft (0.71 atm/m) of vertical height. Therefore, the strand shell may need
containment beyond mold exit to prevent undesirable bulging and/or breakouts. Sub-mold containment is usually provided by rolls (rollers), Figure 9,
although some casters have a grid or a plate-system
for a short distance beyond mold exit. The containment length of a caster is the distance from the
meniscus to the last set of containment rolls.

Fig 10

Casting/Rolling Plants
Originally most all semis coming off conventional
strand casters were allowed to cool to ambient temperature. Sometimes, particularly wide semis were
then torch-cut longitudinally, an operation known as
slitting. (One disadvantage of slitting semis is that it
exposes both voids and coarse as-cast internal structure.) With time, it became obvious that further
savings in energy and handling costs could be
obtained by linking the casting operation with the
subsequent hot-rolling operation. Of course, this is

The length of required containment versus the

metallurgical length of the strand is dictated by the
size and aspect ratio of the strand. Small section
squares may not require containment beyond a possible set of "foot rolls" attached to the exit-end of the
mold, Figure 10. Between aspect ratios of 1/1 and

not applicable to semis shipped to off-site locations.

If caster semis do not have to be inspected, conditioned, slit, or diverted for any other reason, an
advantage can be obtained by routing semis to the
rolling mill by one of several schemes, Figure 11.
For example, semis may be stacked temporarily in
insulated holding stations and later hot-charged into

Strictly speaking, the terms sheet and strip

have been used in the steel industry to specifically
describe certain final product, with each category
being defined by width and thickness (gage) limits.
However, these terms are now also used to describe
outputs of certain casting/rolling linkages. In addition, the linkage subject has been somewhat clouded
by acronyms coined by a few original equipment
manufacturers. For example, CSP (compact strip
production), ISP (in-line strip production), ESP
(endless strip production) and CONROLL are often
touted as different technologies. Actually, they
are simply variations of the basic casting/ rolling
concept.

Fig 11

Although a few thin-slab casters operate without subsequent hot-direct-rolling, a distinct benefit is
obtained by casting a thin slab and introducing this
section into a continuous hot strip mill (HSM). For
example, in one type of layout a 50 to 80 mm thick
strand is cast and the resulting slabs move directly
into a HSM, Figure 12. Obviously, such a linkage
requires a smaller plant footprint.
Also, it
eliminates the need for a roughing stand(s), which
reduce conventional slab thickness down to transferbar thickness. However, between the casting and
rolling operation a tunnel-type temperature equalizing (homogenizing) furnace is required. Such
furnaces differ from conventional reheat furnaces in
that the product is already at elevated temperature.

the reheat furnace prior to rolling. In a procedure

called hot direct charging, semis go directly from
the caster into a reheat or equalizing furnace without
delay. A direct linkage of casting and the rolling
operations has been called hot direct rolling. By
1982, sixty percent of slabs from a conventional
caster were being hot-direct-rolled into coiled sheet
at a cast/roll facility at Nippon Steels Sakai Works.
There, the time between start of cast and the first
coil of hot-rolled sheet was about 2 hours. Furthermore, casting/rolling is not limited to slab semis.
For example, 10-by-13-inch (250 x 330 mm) cast
blooms are directly rolled at Republic Engineered
Steels Cast/Roll facility in Canton, OH.

Typical Thin-Slab-Casting/Rolling Facility Layout

Ladle

Tundish

Hot Strip Mill

Mold
Tunnel Furnace

Thin-slab-casting-and-rolling.
In the late
1980s, thin-slab casting was considered as "lessconventional," casting, in spite of its many similarities with "conventional" slab casting. However,
thins slab casting quickly developed to the point
where there are presently so many thin slab casters
around the world that thin-slab casting is considered
as just another form of conventional slab casting. A
key to its utility is the ability to link casting with
subsequent rolling. The linkage of thin slab casting
with a continuous hot rolling mill has had a significant economic impact on the production of coiled
flat-rolled steel products, of which the automobile
industry is a major consumer.

Descaler

Laminar-Flow Cooling

Coiler

Downcoiler

Fig 12

An example of how casting/rolling facility layouts can vary is the new Arvedi ESP line located in
Cremona, Italy, Figure 13. There, a strand thickness
of 100 mm is cast on an intermediate thickness
caster with liquid core reduction decreasing strand
thickness to about one-half. After complete solidification, and without any auxiliary heating, the strand

inches) in diameter. Rotary casting is unique in that

both the water-cooled mold and the straight strand
rotate in unison around a vertical axis at between 40
and 100 rpm. Not only does it rotate, the mold also
oscillates vertically, similar to conventional casting.

is in-line-rolled to a thickness suitable for entry into

a hot-rolling finishing mill, about 20 mm, or less.

Casting/Rolling on the Arvedi ESP Line in Cremona, Italy

Thin Slab
Caster

Reduction
Mill

Hazelett casters. The Hazelett twin-belt caster

is essentially one long mold assembly. The top and
bottom straight faces of the mold cavity are formed
by two endless parallel spray-water-cooled steel belts
held in tension and positioned at a shallow angle,
Figure 15. The two endwalls are formed by a chain
of rectangular steel or copper blocks circulating with
the belts. The thickness of the blocks determines
strand thickness. Molten metal enters between the
belts through a nozzle. There is no friction between
the mold walls and the strand because there is no
relative motion; the mold walls and the strand move
at the same speed. To prevent sticking, a coating is
continually applied onto the faces of the belts. The
strand is fully-solid at the exit-end of the belts.

Finishing
Mill

Pendulum
Shear
Transfer
Bar Piler

Induction
Heater

Fig 13

Less-Conventional Casters
The development of strand casting has included a
variety of uniquely-configured machines. Many
unique casters were simply "one-shot" pilot casting
attempts.
Examples are; the Watts/Technicon
closed-end-mold horizontal process; the Southwire
"wheel-and-belt" caster; and the horizontal rotarytrough caster promoted by Meinhold/Ameri-Cast.
Nevertheless, several unique casters did prove to be
commercially-viable and are worthy of mention.

HAZELETT TWIN-BELT CASTER

VALLOURECS ROTARY
CASTER FOR ROUNDS
Fig 15
Source: Hazelett website

In the past, several steel companies evaluated

the Hazelett process for the thin slab casting of steel.
However, surface quality proved to be problematic.
Presently, Hazelett twin-belt casters are used primarily to produce strip and/or thin slabs of aluminum, copper, zinc, or lead. Strand thickness for strip
production ranges from 9 mm (3/8 inch) up to 35
mm (1 inches), depending on the product.

Fig 14

Rotary casters. Rotary casters are stick-type

machines that cast only rounds, Figure 14. The
process was developed jointly by Vallourec and
Creusot-Loire in France. In North America, both the
Jackson, MI, and the Fort Smith, AR, plants of
Gerdau MacSteel presently utilize rotary casting.
These casters produce relatively high-quality carbon
and alloy steel rounds up to about 305 mm (12

Horizontal casters. In horizontal casting a

stationary mold is connected directly to a tundish or
a holding furnace, Figure 16. The method results in
relatively low ferrostatic pressure (head) in the
liquid core. Furthermore, there is no tundish-tomold flow control valve and there is no exposure of

liquid to atmosphere in the region where new solid

forms. This makes the process a version of meniscus-free casting. Horizontal casters are used quite
successfully to cast bar, rod, and wire of highlyalloyed steel, cast irons, and many different nonferrous alloys. One example is the casting of Stellite
rod used in its as-cast form as welding electrode for
hardfacing. In other cases, final parts are machined
directly from the as-cast product.

Crawfordville, IN, plant. Basically, this unit is a

twin-roll caster, Figure 17, and is similar in concept
to one patented by Henry Bessemer in the mid
1800s. The process uses two counter-rotating rolls,
about 20 inches (500 mm) in diameter. Liquid fed
between the rolls solidifies on each roll surface. At
the thinnest junction between the rolls, between 1
and 2 mm (0.04 and 0.08 inch), the solid on each roll
is brought together, forming the strip. Strip up to 2
meters (80 inches wide) has been produced. The
aim is to produce hot-rolled strip that will compete
with cold rolled in many applications.

BASIC HORIZONTAL CASTING

LADLE

The CASTRIP Facility at Nucor-Crawfordsville

NOZZLE
BREAK RING
LIQ METAL
STRAND
MOLD ASSEMBLY
HOLDING FURNACE
(TUNDISH)

DRIVE ROLLS

Fig 16

From Killmore, et al

It was once thought that horizontal casting

would be well-suited for casting of high-tonnage
steel billets. In the 1970s General Motors spent a
large effort on their X-TRU CAST process. Others
were also enthused. In the February 2, 1981, issue
of Iron Age, Irving Rossi was quoted as stating that
the conventional vertical caster is "obsolete, or will
be; horizontal casting is the way of the future." Unfortunately, an inherent problem with "witness
marks" on the as-cast surface resulted in poor surface quality on rolled product, thus limiting the use
of the process for casting of high-tonnage steels.

I&S Tech, Oct 2007

Fig 17

Calculating Strand Throughput

The throughput (tonnage rate) of a strand can
be approximated by the following equations. In
Anglo units:

TR =

w d Vc 0.266
2000

(1)

Where:
TR = tonnage rate, tons/min
w = strand width at mold bottom, in
d = strand thickness at mold bottom, in
Vc = casting speed, ipm
In metric units

Direct-to-strip casting. The term strip casting refers to a casting process that casts a section
essentially the same as a section emanating from a
hot strip mill. In other words, strip casting eliminates the need for reheating of a semi and also the
subsequent rolling mill. The aim of strip casting is
to directly-cast sections between 0.01 and 0.20 inch
(0.25 and 5 mm) thick and in widths up to 72 inches
(1830 mm) wide.

TR =

w d Vc 7.36
106

(2)

Where:
TR = tonnage rate, tonnes/min
w = strand width at mold bottom, mm
d = strand thickness at mold bottom, mm
Vc = casting speed, meters/min

Over the years, several versions of strip casting

were investigated in pilot facilities. However, the
first commercial caster for casting of thin steel strip
directly was installed in 2002 by Nucor Steel at their

The above equations also approximate the rate

liquid steel is cast. However, it is important to note
that in cases where the strand thickness is decreased
significantly, as with "liquid core reduction," the
reduced strand thickness dimension must be used in
the above equations, instead of thickness at mold
exit. In such cases, the tachometer sensing the speed
of the strand is located at a roll where the strand is at
its final thickness.

CASTER OUTPUT AS A FUNCTION

OF No. HEATS PER STRING

ANNUAL PRODUCTION, million tons/yr

2.4

Batch versus Sequential Casting

1.4
AVG CAST RATE

1.2
1.0

5 tons/min

CASTING TIME

7800 hrs/yr

TURNR'ND TIME
CASTER YIELD

70 min
98 %

9 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Fig 19

In one way casters are like taxi cabs; both earn

money only while the meter is running. Caster
utilization is often quantified by calculating the
percent of calendar time that steel is in the mold. On
an annual basis it may be the total hours out of 8,760
that the machine actually has liquid in the mold.
Many conventional slab casters achieve over 90
percent steel-in-mold-time by casting long strings.
For example, AK Steel's single strand slab caster at
Ashland, KY, has more than 10 strings of over 1000
heats (180 tons/heat), the longest string having 1,851
heats. Furthermore, the AK Middletown dual-strand
caster accomplished a 59-day world record 2,156heat string between March 6 and May 4, 2010,
without any strand restarts. In billet casting, sequences of over 300-heats have been achieved.

Flying tundish Exchange

Heat D
Intermix

Casting long sequences requires a precise

rhythm between the steelmaking facility and the
caster. There is a limit to how much casting speed
can be slowed to allow "catching" the next heat.
Likewise, there is a limit to the number of ladles that
can be "parked" ahead of a caster waiting to be
teemed. Consequently, the average casting time of a
heat must be close to the average tap-to-tap time for
a furnace (or, when two furnaces are used, one-half
the furnace tap-to-tap time).

Heat B
Dummy Bar

Heat A

1.6

AVERAGE No. HEATS PER STRING

Ladle Exchange

Heat C

1.8

SEQUENCE CASTING

Heat B

2.0

0.8

A basic mode of caster operation is batch casting, in

which single heats are cast one-at-a-time, Figure 18
(left). In batch casting, the casting line is cleared
after each heat; the starter bar is re-charged; and the
starter bar head is repacked in preparation for the
next cast. In some cases two heats are cast in sequence, which may be called piggy-backing. In
comparison, sequence casting, Figure 18 (right), involves the casting of a series (string) of heats in
sequence before terminating the strand(s).

BATCH CASTING

2.2

Heat A

Fig 18

The number of heats cast in sequence (string

length) is the strongest variable affecting caster utilization, Figure 19. Other factors, such as liquid
supply rate, caster turnaround time and scheduled
downtime, are far less variable. Long strings improve caster yield, reduce the cost/ton spent on
tundish refractories, and decrease the frequency of
start-up breakouts. However, these advantages can
only be obtained if the steelmaking/casting complex
is designed to facilitate sequencing. Steel pouring
systems must last the entire length of the sequence
or there must be an ability to change them during
casting. For example, a flying tundish change is a
procedure in which the tundish is exchanged during
a temporary slow down (or stop) in casting speed.

Furthermore, sequence casting introduces other

difficulties, such as liquid composition intermix or
mechanical grade separator techniques. Obviously,
long sequence casting complicates caster maintenance; major on-line repairs can not be done while
the caster is operating. Consequently, turnaround
times and outages must be highly efficient and
sampling methods must be in place to allow quick
assessment of as-cast quality. A broken roll or a

failed roller bearing may not be apparent during

casting, but it can cause serious quality problems in
the semis. Without a rapid quality-evaluation procedure, a sizable tonnage of defective product may
be cast before it is recognized that the caster should
be stopped for maintenance.

cast semis for final product is often dictated by the

severity of as-cast imperfections.
Surface Area per Cast Tonne vs
Strand Thickness and Aspect Ratio

SURFACE AREA PER TONNE, sq meters/tonne

Long sequence casting can complicate the provisioning of slabs for different ordered widths. In
the past, specific slab widths could only be obtained
by exchanging molds between sequences or by slab
slitting. With normal slab slitting, caster slabs are
cooled to ambient temperatures and then torch cut
longitudinally into two-or-more narrower widths.

Reduction Ratio From As-Cast

Rod

INGOT
CAST

Rod

STRAND

STRAND
CAST

2
10/1
30/1

100

150

200

250

300

Fig 21

In addition to relatively low reduction ratios,

the total surface area per as-cast ton for caster semis
is high. Furthermore, a 50-mm-thick slab has
roughly 4 times more surface area per tonne than a
200-mm-thick slab, Figure 21. With ingots, many
as-cast surface blemishes were removed by scaling
in the soaking pit and/or by hot-scarfing in the primary mill. Heavy scaling and/or hot-scarfing rarely
apply to strand cast semis. In fact, conditioning to
remove surface defects on caster semis can be a
costly yield loss, especially with highly-alloyed
steels such as stainless. In addition, conditioning is
not applicable to thin slabs. Fortunately, a greater
rolling reduction ratio often helps decrease the
severity of some surface imperfections, Figure 22.

1000

100

3/1

STRAND THICKNESS, mm

Wire

Sheet

4 times

50

REDUCING AS-CAST TO FINAL PRODUCT

INGOT
CAST

1.3/1

10000

Wire

1/1

Less costly than slab slitting is the use of a

four-piece variable-width mold to achieve desired
width. With such a mold, strand width can be
changed during casting by moving the end walls
either in or out at a prescribed speed, generally in the
range of 30 to 50 mm/min per end wall. The
intricate sequencing steps required to successfully
change width on-line are computer controlled.

Sheet

Bar

CAST

Plate
10

Bar
Plate

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

01

Thickness, inches

10

100

Area, sq. inches

1000

Severity of as-cast surface

imperfections on final product

INFLUENCE OF REDUCTION ON RETENTION

OF AS-CAST SURFACE IMPERFECTIONS
Fig 20

As-Cast Quality Considerations

In strand casting, special attention is given to both
the surface and internal quality of the as-cast semis
because of a limited reduction ratio and a relatively large
surface area per cast ton. With ingots, the mechanical
work provided by the rolling reduction helped obliterate
many as-cast inhomogeneities. In comparison, similar
product rolled from strand-cast semis doe not have as
great a reduction, ratio, Figure 20. (For flat product,
thickness reduction is taken as the reduction ratio,
while for long products reduction in cross-sectional
area is used.) Therefore, the applicability of strand-

2/1

4/ 1

6/ 1

REDUCTION RATIO

8/ 1

10 / 1

12 / 1

Fig 22

The major internal and surface imperfections

that inhibit strand cast semis from reaching their full
potential can be summarized as:

10

tion. Nowadays, the strand cast substitutes for

rimmed steel are pseudo-rimmed steels e.g.,
RIBAND, and ultra-low carbon steels, e.g. IF steels.

Oxide-type nonmetallic inclusions

Highly-localized segregation
Cracking
Porosity
Dendritic structure.

The gas-forming element of primary concern is

oxygen. Dissolved oxygen comes out of solution as
carbon monoxide gas (CO). The elements most
commonly added to kill liquid steel, i.e., to remove dissolved oxygen, are silicon and/or aluminum. These elements combine with dissolved oxygen to form nonmetallic compounds, which ideally
float out of the liquid. (However, nitrogen and
hydrogen can be equally detrimental as void-formers
and, therefore, must be controlled.)

Furthermore, the factors responsible for these imperfections can be grouped as:
Area I: Those factors associated with the
preparation and handling of the liquid steel, from the
furnace on through to the flow conditions within the
liquid entering the mold.
Area II: Those factors related to the composition of the solidifying material. For example,
higher levels of certain elements such as carbon,
sulfur, phosphorous, aluminum, nitrogen and
niobium, to name just a few, make steel more prone
to quality problems. Also, included is superheat
temperature, which influences the manner in which
steel solidifies.

The levels of silicon and/or aluminum along

with carbon and manganese, two other elements that
also act as deoxidizers, can be used to define five
general groups of strand cast steel: pseudo-rimmed
(including RIBAND); Si-killed; Si-Al-killed; lowcarbon Al-killed (LCAK), and ultra-low carbon
(ULC) Al-killed. The latter four categories are, by
far, the most commonly strand cast steels.

Area III: Problems arising from the interaction

of the caster and the strand. Because the strand is
solidifying while it simultaneously moves through
the caster, it is particularly sensitive to damage from
what otherwise might be inconsequential levels of
tensile strain.

Although there is much overlap in the levels of

the elements, Si-Al-killed, LCAK, and ULC steels
have in common relatively high soluble aluminum
content (over 0.015%). Unfortunately, it turns out
that Al-containing liquid steel is extremely sensitive
to the re-introduction of oxygen, which often results
in the formation of solid alumina (aluminum oxide,
Al2O3). On polished metallographic specimens of as
cast steel, the alumina may appear as "clusters,"
Figure 23. However, the true nature of such
"clusters" can be revealed by etching away the solid
metal and exposing the nonmetallic in its as-cast
form. Often, alumina has a 3-dimensional dendritic

Effects of Steel Composition on Castability

Most of the steel compositions that were cast as
ingots can also be successfully strand cast, provided
that proper casting equipment and practices are used.
One notable exception is rimmed steel. Back when
ingot casting was the main solidification route,
rimmed steel was an important staple of the steel
industry, accounting for roughly 75 percent of flat
rolled product. It is not surprising then that in the
early days of strand casting numerous attempts were
made to cast rimmed steel.
However, true rimmed steel was rarely, if ever,
made by strand casting. Rimmed steel produced by
ingot casting requires vigorous gas evolution from
the liquid steel during solidification in the mold. In
strand casting, however, gas evolution at the solidification front is undesirable because voids trapped
just below the surface of an as-cast semi can result in
imperfections on rolled product. Thus, every effort
is made to insure that the liquid entering the casting
mold will not effervesce any time during solidifica-

Fig 23

11

morphology, Figure 24. To avoid the formation of

such nonmetallics, Al-containing steels must not be
exposed to the atmosphere during casting.

with a shroud tube, inert gas is usually flushed

around mating surfaces of the ladle gate and between
the extended nozzle and the shroud tube.
TYPES OF LADLE-TO-TUNDISH STREAM
PROTECTION

Ar

Argon-Pressurized
Pour-Box

Refractory Shroud Tube

Ar

Ar

Bellows and
Pouring Cone

Fig 24

Argon-Flushed
Sealed tundish

Fig 4
Fig
Fig 26
24

Tundish stream protection. Strand section

size and the number of strands have an influence on
the type of system that is practical between tundish
and mold. When conditions allow, a submerged
entry nozzle (SEN) is used, along with a powder
added atop the liquid level in the mold. The exit end
of an SEN may be straight bore, bifurcated (two
ports), or multi-ported. Basically, SENs are either
single- or two-piece, Figure 27. The lower part of
some two-piece systems is called a "submerged entry
shroud," (SES). With multi-piece systems, it is very
important to prevent air aspiration at mating surfaces.

The Liquid Handling System

After the desired chemistry and temperature
have been produced in a ladle of liquid steel, it is
transported to the caster and positioned over the
tundish. Once in place at the caster, the ladle, tundish, and all ancillary equipment required to channel
liquid into the mold, make up what can be called the
liquid handling system, Figure 25. This system
has various functions, among which are; the
protection of liquid steel from reoxidation and the
precise control of flow into the casting mold(s).
A TYPICAL LIQUID HANDLING
SYSTEM

TUNDISH -TO -MOLD IMMERSED -TUBE

POURING PRACTICES

Ladle cover
Synthetic
ladle slag

Ladle

Liquid
Steel

Ladle gate
system
L/T shroud
tube

Tundish cover

Tundish
powder

Tundish

Liq

Tundish gate
system

Submerged Entry
Nozzle (SEN)

Mold powder
(Flux)

Mold
L
i
q

One-Piece
Submerged -Entry
Nozzle (SEN)

Strand

Fig 25

Two-Piece
Submerged -Entry
Shroud (SES)

Fig 27

The exit end of an SEN is often not a straight

bore. Depending on the strand cross section, it is
usually advantageous to divert the tundish stream by
one of several different SEN port design, Figure 28.
The port design at the exit-end of an SEN used in
slab casting is most often a bifurcated one.

Ladle stream protection. The first step in

protecting liquid steel from the atmosphere at the
caster is to protect the stream between the ladle and
the tundish. Most often a long straight-bore shroud
tube is used. However, various inert-gas shrouding
methods have also been utilized, Figure 26. Even

12

the sliding plate is moved to align a hole with the

hole in the top plate. The fully-on, fully-off, and
throttling mode is determined by the overlap of the
holes, which is the controlling orifice. This controlling orifice usually has a cats eye shape. Slide
gates are generally hydraulically controlled. However, a few are electrically driven with hydraulic
safety backup.

Examples of SEN Port Configuration

Bifurcated Tent Bottom

Trifurcated

Bifurcated Cupped Bottom

4 - Port

Tundish flow control. The flow of liquid

exiting a tundish is also regulated by a valve(s) or
nozzle(s). There is at least one valve (stream) for
each strand being cast (although in some cases
multiple streams per strand are used). The type of
valve used is a function of strand size; economics;
the amount of sequence casting; the grades being
cast; and the need to automatically control liquid
flow. The more common types of tundish valves
are: metering nozzles; stopper rods; sequential slide
gates; and throttling slide gates, Figure 30.

Fig 28

Some common tundish-to-mold pouring systems, used primarily in casting smaller sections, are
depicted in Figure 29. For Si-killed steels the tundish stream may be open, i.e., unprotected. In
some cases, a funnel and mold powder are used in
combination. The funnel allows the benefits of
fluxing without the adverse effects of pouring
through a powder layer. For more sensitive steels,
inert gas protection may be done with a Pollard-type
shroud or a bellows shroud.

Methods for Controlling Tundish Flow

TUNDISHTUNDISH-TOTO-MOLD FREEFREE-STREAM
POURING PRACTICES

Metering
Nozzle

Stopper
Rod

Sequential Throttling
Gate
Gate
Fig 30

Open Pour

Funnel Plus
Mold Powder

Pollard-Type
Gas Shroud

The simplest tundish valve is a fixed-orifice

metering nozzle made of a ceramic material (usually
zirconia). The volumetric liquid flow rate through a
metering nozzle is determined by the diameter of the
bore-hole in the refractory and the head of liquid
above the constricting orifice. Often the depth of
liquid in the tundish must be lowered with time
during casting to compensate for erosion of the
orifice. With a metering nozzle, the desired level of
liquid in the mold is regulated by the withdrawal rate
of the strand, i.e., drive rolls.

Bellows-Type
Gas Shroud
Fig 29

Ladle flow control. In the liquid handling

system, the mechanism used to regulate liquid steel
flow from the ladle into the tundish is usually some
type of slide gate systems. Slide gates began to
replace ladle stopper rods in the 60s. Ladle slidegate valves are externally mounted on the ladle
bottom and generally consist of two parallel refractory plates. The top plate (closest to the ladle shell)
is stationary and contains one hole. The lower
(sliding) plate is moveable relative to the top plate
and has one or more holes. To allow steel to flow,

In comparison, stopper rods and throttling slide

gates control the volume-rate of liquid entering the
mold and the strand withdrawal rate is maintained at
a constant aim value. Tundish stopper rods generally consist of a high-grade refractory such as

13

pressed alumina graphite. The head of the stopper

rod seats onto a nozzle cemented into the tundish
bottom. Raising and lowering of the rod, either
manually or automatically, changes the size of the
annular controlling orifice between the head and the
top of the nozzle. When using a stopper rod, a SEN
is also used, so as to prevent steam flaring. With
sequence casting, the life of a stopper rod (and an
SEN, if not changeable) must last for many tons.

include; television, ultrasonics, induction coils,

pneumatic nozzles, ceramic floats, gamma radiation,
thermoelectric systems, and lasers.
Obviously, if the casting speed is to be maintained as a constant, then the flow rate of the liquid
entering the mold must be controllable and this is
best done automatically. Also, computer-based systems are available to simultaneously control both the
ladle and tundish exit flows.

Slide gates first began to be used on tundishes

in the 1960's and their development paralleled that
of ladle slide gates. Two basic types of tundish slide
gates are (1) the sequential or fixed-orifice nonthrottling gate and (2) the variable-orifice throttling
gate. With the sequential system, a blank plate may
be used during the filling of the tundish. To start
flow into the mold, a plate containing a nozzle with
a specific bore size is hydraulically shot into
position. If that nozzle must be replaced, another is
shot into position. In essence, the sequential system
provides a "changeable metering nozzle."

Clogging of pouring systems. A common

problem with pouring system is clogging. Clogging
is the constriction to the flow of liquid through the
constrictive orifice due to the buildup of either solid
metal, nonmetallic material, or a combination of the
two. The buildup of solid metal alone is often referred to as skulling. Unfortunately, it takes an
examination of the used tundish to determine the
true nature any clog. In casting Si-killed steels with
insufficient Mn content, the nonmetallic buildup
may be a glassy silicate, sometimes greenish in
color. With Al-killed steels, solid nonmetallic
alumina, or an alumina-rich compound, is usually
involved.

With throttling gate systems, there are two

basic styles; the two-plate and the three-plate
system. In the two-plate system, the lower moveable
plate holds the SEN, and therefore the SEN moves
with the throttling action, limiting its use to larger
size molds. With the three-plate system, the lowest
plate holds the SEN and it remains stationary as the
middle plate provides the throttling action.

To counter an inherent alumina clogging problem, a stopper rod may be bored-out along its axis to
allow injection of an inert gas (usually argon or
nitrogen), Figure 31. However, with this procedure
there is a propensity for undesirable argon bubbles to
be entrapped in the as-cast product. Moreover, any
buildup of solid metal (skulling) is not alleviated
by inert-gas injection. With better liquid cleanliness
provided by proper ladle metallurgy and tundish
practices, the use of gas injection via the stopper rod
has become more-or-less obsolete.

As mentioned above, there are two basic modes

of controlling mold liquid level. Either the flow into
the mold is throttled while casting speed is held
constant, or the casting speed is varied while flow into
the mold is kept constant (e.g., with a metering
nozzle). Either mode of operation can be accomplished manually. However, at the high rates that
liquid enters the mold in strand casting, it is more
expeditious to use automatic control systems. Any
inability to control the level of steel in the mold can
result in level variations, which usually result in
strand surface quality problems.

CLOGGING IN AN Ar-INJECTED
ONE-PIECE SEN SYSTEM
Argon

Stopper
Rod

Liquid

Controlling
orifice

Clogging
Sites

Mold liquid level sensors. Various methods

have been developed to sense liquid level in the
mold. Most generate a voltage signal to automatically control either the casting speed or the throttling
valve. Automatic methods eliminate the need for an
operator to continually observe the level in the mold
and react manually. Level sensing methods used

SEN

Mold

Fig 31

14

To circumvent clogging and still make true Alkilled steel (Al > 0.015%) aluminum wire is sometimes fed continuously into the tundish-to-mold
pouring stream. This technique is most applicable
when casting smaller strand sections. However, it
requires adequate gas shrouding of the pouring system as well as the liquid in the mold.
In slab casting, systems are available that allow
a clogged or worn SEN to replaced without slowing
the casting rate and/or raising the tundish. When
space allows, an SEN tube changer can be used,
Figure 32. With such a system a new tube assembly
is put into a temporary holding position. Then in a
mater of a few seconds this tube is hydraulically
fired into casting position. The used tube is then
extracted and discarded. Obviously, such a mechanism only works with a two-piece SEN system.

MOVEMENTS IN A NON-LIFT SEN EXCHANGE

Fig 32

.oOo.

E. S. Szekeres
Brimacombe Continuous
Casting Course
May, 2011

15