Sms Concast, Inc.

Concast Incorporated

Concast Ag

Sms Concast Division of Sms Schloemann-siemag Inc.

Carl Langner

Michael A Poran

Nils E Johansson

Donald P Lorento

Herbert Fastert

Shlomo Hury

Sol Fenick

Chester C Tobiasz

Stephen Karolyi

Geza Szarka

A continuous casting mold assembly has four mold walls in the form of discrete plates. The mold walls are arranged with an edge face of each wall abutting a major face of an adjacent mold wall. To permit changes in taper, each of the mold walls is mounted for pivotal movement on two orthogonal axes. The mold walls are held together by springs which can be hydraulically relieved when the mold walls are to be adjusted. The mold walls tend to move away from one another following hydraulic relief of the springs, and such movements are limited by screws associated with the respective mold walls. The screws contact abutments when the mold walls have moved apart by distances large enough to allow pivoting of the walls but not large enough to permit molten material to leak between the walls.

Adjustable continuous casting mold

A wall of a mold assembly for the continuous casting of steel has a steel back-up plate. A thermally conductive plate composed of copper or a copper alloy is bolted to the back-up plate and a relatively thin copper or copper alloy facing is soldered to that surface of the thermally conductive plate which faces away from the back-up plate. The thermally conductive plate may be omitted and the facing soldered to the back-up plate. The facing contacts and cools a continuously cast strand travelling through the mold. When the facing becomes cracked or worn beyond repair, the solder joint is melted to remove the facing and a fresh facing is soldered to the thermally conductive plate or back-up plate.

Mold for continuous casting and method of making the mold

An apparatus for the continuous casting of slabs has a mold and a slab support zone immediately following the mold. The mold is made up of four separate plates which are held together to define a mold cavity. A dividing wall can be removably mounted in the mold cavity in order to divide the same into a pair of parallel casting passages. Insertion of the dividing wall in the mold cavity makes it possible to simultaneously cast two relatively narrow slabs rather than a single wide slab. A partition designed to constitute an extension of the dividing wall is provided for the support zone and can be removably mounted in the same. Both the dividing wall and the partition are carried by a clamping mechanism which serves to clamp the dividing wall in the mold cavity. The clamping mechanism, which is designed to be mounted on the mold externally of the mold cavity, may be in the form of a frame which circumscribes the mold or may consist of two discrete clamping devices one of which carries the dividing wall and the other of which carries the partition. In the latter case, the clamping device with the partition is mounted at the end of the mold nearest the support zone while the clamping device with the dividing wall is mounted at the opposite end of the mold. The dividing wall has one or more cooling ducts and the clamping mechanism is formed with one or more passages which communicate with the ducts and can be connected to a source of cooling fluid. The partition is provided with spray nozzles for slab cooling and the clamping mechanism is further provided with at least one additional passage for establishing communication between the nozzles and a cooling fluid source.

Mold and support zone for continuous casting

Molten metal is continuously teemed from a ladle into a tundish. The latter feeds a continuous stream of the molten metal to a cooled mold having opposite open ends connected by a casting passage. The molten metal enters the mold at one end and partially solidifies in the casting passage to form a continuously cast strand which is withdrawn from the mold at its other end. The strand initially consists of a thin shell of solidified metal, and a molten core which is confined by the shell. Upon leaving the mold, the strand is conveyed through a bath of molten metal. The metal of the bath has a lower melting point than, and a specific gravity comparable to that of, the metal being cast. The bath functions to cool the strand uniformly so that the quality of the strand is maintained. The bath further counteracts the tendency of the molten core to cause bulging of the solidified shell which also serves to enhance the quality of the strand. Additional enhancement of the quality of the strand is obtained by virtue of the fact that the bath protects the strand from the atmosphere. The strand leaves the bath after the molten core has solidified and is then cut into sections for further processing.

Method of and apparatus for continuously casting metals

An oscillator for a continuous casting mold includes a rotatable drive shaft having first and second portions which are eccentric with respect to one another. A sleeve for inducing oscillatory motion of the mold rotatably surrounds the second shaft portion and is eccentric with reference to the latter as well as the first shaft portion. The sleeve is coupled to the housing of a gear reducer having a gear assembly which is rotatable relative to the housing and is coupled to the drive shaft for rotation therewith. The housing is, in turn, connected with the casing of a motor having an output shaft which is rotatable relative to the casing and is coupled to the gear assembly. This motor constitutes an auxiliary motor which is operable independently of a primary motor for the drive shaft. During normal operation, the auxiliary motor is deactivated and the sleeve, gear reducer and auxiliary motor all rotate with the drive shaft as this induces reciprocation of the mold through the agency of the sleeve. If the magnitude of the oscillation stroke is to be changed, the auxiliary motor is activated. This causes the sleeve to rotate relative to the drive shaft so that the eccentricity of the sleeve with respect to the first portion of the drive shaft, which determines the magnitude of the oscillation stroke, changes. The auxiliary motor and the gear reducer are at least approximately coaxial with the first portion of the drive shaft thereby enabling the auxiliary motor to be small and the oscillator to be compact.

Oscillator for a continuous casting mold

A continuous casting installation has a dummy bar which is designed such that its connection with a strand can be broken by moving the dummy bar and the strand relative to one another in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the strand. A straightening roll for the strand is movable in this direction between a raised position and a lowered position. A support roll is mounted in the region of the straightening roll and is pivotable between an elevated position and a depressed position clear of the casting path. In operation, the connection between the dummy bar and the strand is positioned between the straightening roll and the support roll. The straightening roll is in its raised position and is located above the strand while the support roll is in its elevated position and supports the dummy bar. The straightening roll is now lowered to straighten the strand thereby simultaneously breaking the connection between the dummy bar and the strand. The straightened strand continues travelling along the casting path and the leading end of the strand moves into the support roll and pivots the latter to its depressed position. The proximity of the straightening roll and the support roll results in the exertion of only a small moment on the dummy bar during disconnection from the strand. The ability of the support roll to be pivoted to a position clear of the casting path virtually eliminates any danger of this roll stopping the strand and interrupting the casting operation.

Dummy bar disconnecting arrangement

A method and apparatus for semi-horizontal continuous casting is disclosed employing an essentially horizontally extending continuous casting mold provided at its upper side or top wall with a mold inlet opening for the infeed of the metal to be cast, especially steel. At least one strand guide arrangement serves to guide at least one continuously cast strand which is fed laterally out of the continuous casting mold. The strand guide arrangement for each stand possesses two strand guide tracks or paths curved in opposite direction, the center of curvature of the first curved guide track or path, viewed in the direction of travel of the cast strand, being located below its related path of travel, and the center of curvature of the second curved guide track or path being located above its related path of travel.

Method and apparatus for semi-horizontal continuous casting

A molten metal stream is fed downwardly, especially essentially vertically, into a double-ended, chilled horizontal mold where the molten metal is formed into two strands which are cooled and simultaneously bidirectionally withdrawn from opposed ends of the horizontal mold. The infed hot molten metal stream is deposited within the double-ended horizontal mold such that a so-to-speak hot wall forms at the immediate vicinity of the inflow region where the molten metal enters the horizontal mold. This hot wall precludes formation of a strand shell or skin which otherwise would undesirably interconnect the two formed strands, so that not only is the resistance to mold oscillation decreased, but the individual strands can be cleanly withdrawn from each side of the mold without the danger of undesired and uncontrolled interaction arising between the two withdrawn strands and without the need to have to rupture any such interconnecting strand shell or skin. A simple construction of bidirectional horizontal mold contemplates providing a mold inlet opening through which an immersible pouring tube extends from a separate tundish into the internal space of the double-ended horizontal mold, beneath the molten bath level or meniscus, such as to form the hot wall, escape of molten metal out of the inlet opening being precluded by the use of an electromagnetic seal which not only constrains the escape of metal but also may contribute to preventing undesirable strand shell formation at the inflow region of the molten metal to the mold.

Method and apparatus for bidirectional horizontal continuous casing

Hot, elongated metallic products are delivered to a horizontal roller table and then transferred to one side of the latter transverse to the longitudinal dimensions of the products. The transfer arrangement for the products includes several pairs of I-beams which stretch from one side of the roller table to the other and are upwardly inclined in the direction of transfer. The I-beams of each pair are spaced from one another, and a wheeled carriage is located in the gap between the I-beams of each pair. The wheels of the carriages are situated between the flanges of the respective I-beams. The carriages are aligned with one another in the longitudinal direction of the products and are driven in synchronism. This permits each product in the path of the carriages to be engaged by all of the carriages simultaneously. As the carriages travel in the transfer direction, the carriages sequentially lift the products from the roller table along a direction which is inclined to the horizontal. This reduces sliding movement of the products on the roller table. The carriages also group the products during travel in the transfer direction.

Arrangement and a method for transferring products in metal processing

A continuous casting mold assembly has a pair of end plates which are releasably clamped between a pair of side plates and cooperate with the same to define an open-ended mold cavity. A single tie-rod at either end of the pair of side plates spans the side plates and provides a clamping function and an alignment function. Clamping is accomplished by clamping nuts on the tie-rods and the torque required to turn the nuts is maintained at a low value by means of thrust bearings. Alignment is achieved via tongues on the tie-rods which contact the side plate to be located at the neutral axis of the continuous casting apparatus. The tongues cooperate with locator heads on the respective tie-rods to define a predetermined distance of such magnitude that the side plate contacted by the tongues lies at the neutral axis when the locator heads abut fixed reference elements on the mold table. The invention provides simplification and increased operational reliability.

Mold assembly for continuous casting

A continuous casting machine for billets and blooms has a curved mold which is followed by a curved cooling zone and a straightener. A dummy bar for the casting machine has a length at least equal to the distance between the mold and the straightener. The dummy bar has a rigid portion and a flexible portion which are pivotally connected with one another. The rigid portion, which is curved and has a radius equal to the casting radius, includes a dummy bar head. The flexible portion is made up essentially of pivotally connected, curved links having radii equal to the casting radius. The flexible portion is designed such that it can assume radii equal to or less than the casting radius. When the dummy bar is in position for casting, the flexible portion assumes the casting radius and the dummy bar conforms to the curvature of the casting machine. Since the rigid portion of the dummy bar need not be supported in this position, less support structure between the mold and the straightener is required than for a dummy bar which is flexible in its entirety. When the dummy bar is not in use, it is stored with the flexible portion thereof bent to a radius much smaller than the casting radius. The dummy bar thus takes up less space in storage than a dummy bar which conforms to the curvature of the casting machine and is rigid in its entirety.

Dummy bar for a continuous casting machine

A dummy or starter bar for starting a strand in a continuous casting installation having an open-ended mold is provided with a head which is receivable in the mold. The dummy bar head has a peripheral surface which faces the inner surface of the mold. The dummy bar head further has an end face at least part of which is inclined with respect to the peripheral surface. The end face is directed towards the inlet end of the mold. The dummy bar head is provided with a dovetail-like recess which opens to the inclined part of the end face. The recess enables the strand to become coupled to the dummy bar head and is arranged so that coupling occurs in a manner which permits the strand and the dummy bar head to become detached by relative movement thereof in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the strand. The recess is bounded so as to prevent penetration thereof into the peripheral surface of the dummy bar head and this, in conjunction with the inclination provided for the end face of the dummy bar head, enables the dummy bar head to be readily sealed in the mold. A method of starting the strand involves placing bars of chill material in the recess in such a manner that they are inclined with respect to the inner surface of the mold and that the ends thereof are located in the undercut section of the recess. The molten material introduced into the recess solidifies about the chill bars. The latter serve as an anchor within the solidifying mass thus providing an enhanced connection between the dummy bar head and the strand in the first few critical moments of withdrawal of the strand from the mold.

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Monsey, NY, United States of America

Carl Langner