To begin casting, a starter head matching the inside dimension of the mold and connected to a starter chain is moved up into the mold. The starter chain has dimensions similar to the strand to be cast and is long enough to be moved up and down by the driven rolls. When liquid steel fills the mold, it freezes to the caster head, which is immediately withdrawn. The chain in front of the solidifying strand moves through the secondary cooling zone, and, after the head has cleared the last support roll, it is disconnected from the strand by an upward-moving push-out roll. The chain is then pulled by a winch onto a support cradle, lifted from the table, and stored for reuse. At the end of casting, when the tundish is almost empty, the flow of steel to the mold is discontinued, and the strand is stopped and, after solidifying, completely withdrawn. For the next cast, the starter chain, with the head in front, is moved again by the driven rolls into the secondary cooling zone and mold.

Casting of one ladle takes 45 to 90 minutes, depending on heat size, steel grade, caster layout, and casting conditions. Turning the caster around—that is, preparing it for the next cast—is usually accomplished in a half hour, but it takes longer when the mold is changed for casting a different section. Slab casters often use molds with movable side plates, thus permitting a fast change of width during caster turnaround or even during casting. Such devices, together with fast exchange systems for casting tubes, tundishes, and ladles, permit sequential heats to be cast without stopping the caster—sometimes for several days. Starting and stopping a caster causes a few metres of steel on both ends of the strand to fall below the specified properties, thereby lowering the steel-to-strand yield. In sequential casting, on the other hand, the yield from liquid steel to acceptable strand approaches 100 percent, compared with perhaps 93 percent when turning the caster around after each ladle or to 86 percent in an ingot-casting operation that uses a blooming or slabbing mill to roll a slab or bloom of the same size. The benefits are substantial because much less raw material, liquid steel, and energy are needed to make the same tonnage of cast product.

Metallurgical quality is often enhanced by computer control over some or all systems of the caster. Casting conditions are often further improved by electrical tundish heating to adjust steel temperature, by electromagnetic stirring coils around the strand to decrease segregation, by in-line rolling to compact the centre just before it solidifies, and, most important, by well-designed inspection systems to check the liquid steel and the hot strand during casting. Such systems provide a high level of quality assurance, making it possible to charge the cut strand hot into a reheat furnace or, with only a little reheating of the edges, directly into a hot-rolling mill. This not only minimizes reheating but eliminates cooling, cold inspection, scarfing or grinding, and storage. Plants that integrate a continuous caster with a hot-rolling mill often need only 90 minutes to convert liquid steel into a hot-rolled product.

Variations

Some plants have been built specifically for direct rolling. One example is a thin-slab caster that casts strands 50 millimetres thick and 1,250 millimetres wide at speeds of about five metres per minute. After the strand is cut on the run-out table, the slabs are directly heated in-line in a long tunnel furnace or by induction coils and then fed, also in-line, directly into the finishing train of a hot-strip mill. With everything in one continuous line, operating and maintenance systems must be kept at the highest level.

Another special continuous process is the rotary casting of rounds, mainly for seamless tubes. A rotary caster is similar to a straight-mold vertical caster, except that the round mold, the strand, and the withdrawal system revolve at about 75 rotations per minute. This creates a centrifugal force within the strand and results in a cleaner cast and better contact between strand and mold. Still another variation is the casting of rounds in a horizontal caster. This entirely different system employs a large tundish with a horizontal nozzle in its side wall that extends directly into a water-cooled horizontal mold. The strand oscillates and is pulled out of the mold in small increments each time a new shell has formed at the mold entrance. Everything is located on one level, so that there are no high ladle lifts. Ferrostatic pressure in the strand is also very low, but segregation tendencies caused by gravitational forces require more careful preparation of the liquid steel.

There have been, and still are, many continuous-casting concepts tested in laboratories, pilot plants, and trial operations. Examples include single- or dual-roll strip casters, which cast strip directly from liquid steel, and belt casters for thin-slab production. There have also been hundreds of patents issued on continuous casting, all with the goal of making the process more cost-efficient, improving metallurgical control, and casting as close to the final product shape as possible.