Advances in the Continuous Casting of Steel

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Metal Casting, Forming and Heat Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 6929

Special Issue Editor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
Interests: metallurgy; steels; electrical steels; steelmaking; continuous casting; solidification; inclusion engineering; sustainable manufacturing; life cycle analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

Steel is one of the most important engineering materials in the world and plays an essential role in our everyday lives. Continuous casting is a key part of the process route for the production of steel.

Over the past 50 years, we have seen, and continue to see, a huge amount of research and development activity related to the continuous casting of steel. This includes areas such as the development of advanced monitoring techniques, measurement and automation, improving our understanding of the formation of cracks and other defects, cleanliness and solutions for reducing the number of inclusions in cast products, solidification and metallurgy, the development of new mold powders for use with new steel grades, simulation and numerical modelling of flow in the tundish and the mould, development of new refractories, developments in thin slab casting and direct rolling, and the latest in digitalization and machine learning as applied to continuous casting.

The main focus of this forthcoming Special Issue is to present an overview of some of these developments, and other continuous casting related issues, from the viewpoint of both industry and academia.

It is my great pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Richard Thackray
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Continuous casting
  • Solidification
  • Mould powders/fluxes
  • Refractories
  • Steelmaking
  • Modelling
  • Clean steel
  • Metallurgy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7101 KiB  
Article
Effect of CaO/Al2O3 Ratio on Physical Properties of Lime-Alumina-Based Mould Powders
by Mustafa Seyrek and Richard Thackray
Metals 2023, 13(4), 719; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13040719 - 06 Apr 2023
Viewed by 815
Abstract
High-aluminium steels contain a significant amount of aluminium. The reaction between Al in the liquid steel and SiO2 in lime-silica-based mould powders during the continuous casting process of high Al steel causes chemical compositional changes in the mould powders, subsequently affecting the [...] Read more.
High-aluminium steels contain a significant amount of aluminium. The reaction between Al in the liquid steel and SiO2 in lime-silica-based mould powders during the continuous casting process of high Al steel causes chemical compositional changes in the mould powders, subsequently affecting the surface quality of slabs. In order to solve the aforementioned problem, lime-alumina-based mould powders have been developed, which can lead to an increase in the surface quality of cast slabs by inhibiting steel/slag interaction. However, the mould slag tends to crystallise easily, which leads to a deterioration of the mould lubrication. In view of this aspect, it is important to develop and optimize lime-alumina-based mould powders to meet the requirements of continuous casting of high-aluminium steels. In this study, the changes in crystallinity, viscosity and melting temperature of lime-alumina-based mould powders with the effects of increasing the CaO/Al2O3 ratio have been observed through STA (Simultaneous Thermal Analysis), HSM (Hot Stage Microscopy), XRD (X-ray Diffraction), IPT (Inclined Plate Test) and rotational viscometer. The crystallisation behaviour of these mould powders was evaluated by generating CCT (continuous cooling transformation) diagrams. Additionally, the changes in steel chemistry have also been analysed using XRF (X-ray fluorescence) and ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer). The results of these analyses demonstrated that crystallinity of lime-alumina-based mould powder is increased while the initial crystallisation temperature and viscosity are decreased by CaO/Al2O3 additions. However, the degree of steel/slag interaction decreases with an increase in Al2O3 content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Continuous Casting of Steel)
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11 pages, 1052 KiB  
Article
Denoising and Dehazing an Image in a Cascaded Pattern for Continuous Casting
by Wenbin Su, Yifei Zhang, Hongbo Wei and Qi Gao
Metals 2022, 12(1), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12010126 - 09 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1343
Abstract
Automatic vision systems have been widely used in the continuous casting of the steel industry, which improve efficiency and reduce labor. At present, high temperatures with evaporating fog cause images to be noisy and hazy, impeding the usage of advanced machine learning algorithms [...] Read more.
Automatic vision systems have been widely used in the continuous casting of the steel industry, which improve efficiency and reduce labor. At present, high temperatures with evaporating fog cause images to be noisy and hazy, impeding the usage of advanced machine learning algorithms in this task. Instead of considering denoising and dehazing separately like previous papers, we established that by taking advantage of deep learning in a modeling complex formulation, our proposed algorithm, called Cascaded Denoising and Dehazing Net (CDDNet) reduces noise and hazy in a cascading pattern. Experimental results on both synthesized images and a pragmatic video from a continuous casting factory demonstrate our method’s superior performance in various metrics. Compared with existing methods, CDDNet achieved a 50% improvement in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio on the validation dataset, and a nearly 5% improvement on a dataset that has never seen before. Besides, our model generalizes so well that processing a video from an operating continuous casting factory with CDDNet resulted in high visual quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Continuous Casting of Steel)
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12 pages, 2606 KiB  
Article
Impingement Density Analysis on Heat Transfer and the Appearance of Edge Cracks in Conventional Slab Using Hydraulic Nozzles
by Alfonso Ruiz-Pineda, Alicia Aguilar-Corona, Constantin Alberto Hernández-Bocanegra, José Ángel Ramos-Banderas, Gildardo Solorio-Díaz and Romeo Omar Preciado-Martínez
Metals 2022, 12(1), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12010108 - 06 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 925
Abstract
In this work, the fluid dynamics and heat transfer of two hydraulic nozzles used in the secondary cooling of the conventional slab continuous casting machine were analyzed. Impingement density maps, the jet opening angle and heat flux associated with different operating conditions (impingement [...] Read more.
In this work, the fluid dynamics and heat transfer of two hydraulic nozzles used in the secondary cooling of the conventional slab continuous casting machine were analyzed. Impingement density maps, the jet opening angle and heat flux associated with different operating conditions (impingement distance, pressure) were experimentally determined. The opening angle and impingement density footprint were found to vary considerably in shape and magnitude with varying operating pressure and distances. Finally, it was found that when short operating distances are used, a greater heat extraction gradient occurs in the major axis of the impingement footprint, which promotes edge-cracks in the slab in plant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Continuous Casting of Steel)
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18 pages, 68787 KiB  
Article
Comparison of the Flow Field in a Slab Continuous Casting Mold between the Thicknesses of 180 mm and 250 mm by High Temperature Quantitative Measurement and Numerical Simulation
by Yibo Liu, Jian Yang, Fuxiang Huang, Keran Zhu, Fenggang Liu and Jian Gong
Metals 2021, 11(12), 1886; https://doi.org/10.3390/met11121886 - 23 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1545
Abstract
In the present work, the flow field in a slab continuous casting mold with thicknesses of 180 and 250 mm are compared using high temperature quantitative measurement and numerical simulation. The results of the numerical simulation are in agreement with those of the [...] Read more.
In the present work, the flow field in a slab continuous casting mold with thicknesses of 180 and 250 mm are compared using high temperature quantitative measurement and numerical simulation. The results of the numerical simulation are in agreement with those of the high temperature quantitative measurement, which verifies the accuracy and reliability of the numerical simulation. Under the same working conditions, the velocities near the mold surface with the thickness of 180 mm were slightly higher than those of the mold with the thickness of 250 mm. The flow pattern in the 180 mm thick mold maintains DRF more easily than that in 250 mm thick mold. The kinetic energy of the jet dissipates faster in the 250 mm thick mold than in the 180 mm mold. For double-roll flow (DRF), as the argon gas bubbles can be flushed into the deeper region under the influence of strong jets on both sides, the argon bubbles distribute widely in the mold. For single-roll flow (SRF), as the argon bubbles float up quickly after leaving the side holes, the bubble distribution is more concentrated in the width direction, which may cause violent interface fluctuation and slag entrainment. The fluctuation at the steel-slag interface in the mold with 180 mm thickness is greater than that in the mold with 250 mm thickness but less than 5 mm. The increase of mold thickness may lead to a decrease of the symmetry of the flow field in the thickness direction and uniformity of mold powder layer thickness. In summary, the steel throughput should be increased in the 250 mm thick mold compared with that in the 180 mm thick mold. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Continuous Casting of Steel)
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11 pages, 6277 KiB  
Article
Influence of Segmented Rolls on Homogeneity of Cooling in Continuous Casting
by Jan Kominek, Tomas Luks, Michal Pohanka and Jong-Yeon Hwang
Metals 2021, 11(8), 1232; https://doi.org/10.3390/met11081232 - 02 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1337
Abstract
This paper deals with secondary cooling in a continuous caster. In particular, it deals with cooling inhomogeneity caused by spray arrangement and segmented rolls used for leading the strand. The cooling section is placed under the mold. Segmented rolls are supported by bearings [...] Read more.
This paper deals with secondary cooling in a continuous caster. In particular, it deals with cooling inhomogeneity caused by spray arrangement and segmented rolls used for leading the strand. The cooling section is placed under the mold. Segmented rolls are supported by bearings in several places across the strand. Sprayed water can flow in the gaps between rolls where the bearing pocket is located. The main question that was experimentally studied is how this geometry with segmented rolls can influence homogeneity of cooling. Two experimental approaches developed for this study were applied, and both used full-scale geometrical configuration. The first one was a cold test where water flow and water distribution were observed using a transparent board with the studied surface structures (rollers and bearing pockets) and four spraying nozzles. The second one was a cooling test using a heated steel plate with rolls and bearing pockets. Cooling homogeneity was studied based on the temperature distribution on the rear side of the sample, which was recorded using an infrared camera. Homogeneity of cooling distribution was experimentally studied for three levels of cooling intensity that are used in typical cooling sections in plants. The hot tests showed that the bearing pockets do not provide significant cooling inhomogeneity despite the fact that a large amount of water flows through the gap between the rollers (which has been observed in cold tests). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Continuous Casting of Steel)
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