INVESTIGATION ON HOT DUCTILITY AND STRENGTH OF CONTINUOUS CASTING SLAB FOR AH32 STEEL

By means of Gleeble-1500 testing machine, the simulation of continuous casting process forAH32 steel was carried out and hot ductility and strength were determined. The cracking sensitivity was studied under the different temperatures and strain rates. The Precipitations of AIN at different temperatures and the fractures of high-temperature tensile samples were observed by using TEM （transmission electron microscope） and SEM （scanning electron microscope）. The factors affecting the brittle temperature zone were discussed.

Strain in solidifying shell of continuous casting slabs

Two-dimension unsteady heat transfer model was applied to obtain the surfacetemperature and the shell thickness of continuous casting slabs during the process ofsolidification. On the basis of which, the mathematical model of strain at the interface of solidand liquid steel was set up. Through which, the strain in the solidifying shell under normal andabnormal operation conditions was gained. The results indicate that the strain is small under thenormal operation conditions and the internal crack never happens. However, when the variation of theroll gap is above 2 mm, the strain caused by which is greater than that caused by bulging.Furthermore, the total strain exceeds the critical one and the internal crack is the result. So itis of great importance to maintain the fine state of continuous casting machine to avoid theappearance of internal crack.

Study Segregation of Alloying Elements in Continuous Casting Slab with Valence Electron Structure

By calculating the electron structures of the phases that phosphor, sulfur and alloying elements dissolving inγ-Fe, the reason why alloying elements can bring centerline segregation in continuous casting slab (CCS) with nA, the number of electrons on the strongest covalent bonds, and the structure formation factor S were investigated, and an electron structural criterion to control and to eliminate the centerline segregation was advanced. Basing on this, the electron structures of a part of rare earth phosphides and sulfides are calculated, the physical mechanism that rare earth elements can control the segregation of phosphor and sulfur is analyzed, and the criterion is well verified.

Research on the trajectory of non-metal inclusions with the flow in the mold during the solidification of continuous casting slabs

By means of the numerical simulation method,the mathematical model of inclusions movement in the mold is established under the condition of austenitic and fen-itic stainless steel slab production. According to the simulation results, the main zones for inclusion particles accumulation were found and many factors that affected floating-up probability of inclusion particles were identified. These factors include the inclusion particle size, the casting speed and the slab width, etc. It is believed that the inclusion particle size is the key one among these factors.

Surface Detection of Continuous Casting Slabs Based on Curvelet Transform and Kernel Locality Preserving Projections

Longitudinal cracks are common defects of continuous casting slabs and may lead to serious quality accidents. Image capturing and recognition of hot slabs is an effective way for on-line detection of cracks, and recognition of cracks is essential because the surface of hot slabs is very complicated. In order to detect the surface longitudinal cracks of the slabs, a new feature extraction method based on Curvelet transform and kernel locality preserving projections （KLPP） is proposed. First, sample images are decomposed into three levels by Curvelet transform. Second, Fourier transform is applied to all sub-band images and the Fourier amplitude spectrum of each sub-band is computed to get features with translational invariance. Third, five kinds of statistical features of the Fourier amplitude spectrum are computed and combined in different forms. Then, KLPP is employed for dimensionality reduction of the obtained 62 types of high-dimensional combined features. Finally, a support vector machine （SVM） is used for sample set classification. Experiments with samples from a real production line of continuous casting slabs show that the algorithm is effective to detect longitudinal cracks, and the classification rate is 91.89%.

Longitudinal crack on slab surface at straightening stage during continuous casting using finite element method

Deformation behavior of slab at the straightening stage during continuous casting was simulated by the explicit dynamic finite element method,and the stress distribution along the width direction of the slab and its change regularity at slab center during continuous casting were obtained.The influence of distribution and change of stress on the propagation of longitudinal cracks on slab surface was discussed.The results show that the tensional stress appears on slab surface at the inner arc side and the compressive stress appears on slab surface at the outer arc side at stages 6-8 in straightening zone during continuous casting.Longitudinal cracks generally appear on slab top surface and do not appear on slab bottom surface,which are also observed in industry.

Prediction of spatial distribution of the composition of inclusions on the entire cross section of a linepipe steel continuous casting slab

In the current study, the transformation in the composition of non-metallic inclusions from the molten steel to the solidified steel was studied and the composition distribution of inclusions on the cross section of a linepine continuous casting slab was predicted. During cooling and solidification of the continuous casting strand, Al_(2)O_(3)-CaO inclusions reacted with the bulk steel and transformed to CaS-Al_(2)O_(3)-MgO-(CaO) ones in the continuous casting slab. The composition of inclusions on the cross section of the slab varied with locations due to the varied cooling rate. A model was established to predict the distribution of the composition of inclusions on the cross section of the continuous casting slab, coupling solidification and heat transfer of the continuous casting slab, the kinetic mass transfer of the dissolved elements in the solid steel, and thermodynamic calculation of inclusion transformation at different temperatures. The composition transformation of inclusions mainly occurred at the temperature between the liquidus and solidus of the linepipe steel. Inclusions were mainly CaS-Al_(2)O_(3)-MgO-(CaO) in slab center and were MgO-Al_(2)O_(3)-CaO-CaS within the subsurface of the slab. In the slab, the transformation fraction of inclusions was less than 10 % at corners while it reached 70 % at 50 mm below the surface of the slab.

New Solution to Surface Temperature of Casting Slab Measurement Based on Preceded Reflector and Multi-Wavelength

The surface temperature of casting slab is an important parameter in the metallurgy field. Because the surface emissivity is uncertain and also unknown, it is difficult to measure the slab surface temperature accurately. A method based on preceded reflector and multi-wavelength was put forward to deal with the difficulty in surface temperature measurement of casting slab. On the premise of preceded reflector and non-preceded reflector, the method establishes the radiation energy equations and works out the emissivity and temperature in the equations. Also, the multilayer modeling of casting slab surface and multiple reflection-absorption process modeling were built by Monte Carlo method. The temperature measuring method had been applied in the continuous casting field. In order to verify the measured result, the thermal imaging method was adopted when the slab surface emissivity was set by repeated tests. Finally, the measured and verified temperature curves keep a same tendency and the error of the values is lower than 5℃. The comparison result shows that the method can measure temperature accurately.

Morphology and Precipitation Kinetics of MnS in Low-Carbon Steel During Thin Slab Continuous Casting Process

The morphology of manganese sulfide formed during thin slab continuous casting process in low-carbon steel produced by compact strip production （CSP） technique was investigated. Using transmission electron microscopy analysis, it was seen that a majority of manganese sulfides precipitated at austenite grain boundaries, the morphologies of which were spherical or close to the spherical shape and the size of MnS precipitates ranged from 30 nm to 100 nm. A mathematical model of the manganese sulfide precipitation in this process was developed based on classical nucleation theory. Under the given conditions, the starting and finishing precipitation temperatures of MnS in the continuous casting thin slab of the studied low-carbon steel are 1 189 ℃ and 1 171 ℃, respectively, and the average diameter of MnS precipitates is about 48 nm within this precipitation temperature range. The influences of chemical components and thermo-mechanical processing conditions on the precipitation behavior of MnS in the same process were also discussed.

Effect of cooling structure on thermal behavior of copper plates of slab continuous casting mold

A three-dimensional finite-element model of slab continuous casting mold was conducted to clarify the effect of cooling structure on thermal behavior of copper plates. The results show that temperature distribution of hot surface is mainly governed by cooling structure and heat-transfer conditions. For hot surface centricity, maximum surface temperature promotions are 30 ℃and 15 ℃ with thickness increments of copper plates of 5 mm and nickel layers of 1 ram, respectively. The surface temperature without nickel layers is depressed by 10 ℃ when the depth increment of water slots is 2 mm and that with nickel layers adjacent to and away from mold outlet is depressed by 7℃ and 5 ℃, respectively. The specific trend of temperature distribution of transverse sections of copper plates is nearly free of cooling structure, but temperature is changed and its law is similar to the corresponding surface temperature.

DANIELI concepts and experiences in thin slab casting and rolling technology for HRC production—the evolution of a winning process route to face increasing market requirements

The direct rolling process for hot strip production,where the thin slab caster is connected directly to the mill,has gained market share rapidly because of its remarkable advantages in terms of energy savings and investment cost over the conventional hot strip mills. However,the unquestionable advantages of the first-generation applications of this plant concept also entail significant limitations both in productivity and steel grades that can be produced. Since his first pioneering applications,Danieli considered strategic the development of new technical solutions specifically conceived to overcome these limitations with the goal of increasing plant production volumes and enlarging steel grade product mix,in order to cover the gap between "Conventional mill" and "Thin slab casting and rolling" process routes. In order to reach this goal,Danieli has developed a complete portfolio of plant lay outs adopting Thin Slab Casting and Rolling technologies,each of them conceived to guarantee the optimal CAPEX and OPEX parameters in fitting with market requirements our Customer intend to target.in terms of productivity,steel grades and coil dimension product mix. Danieli TSR(Thin Slab Rolling) fTSR(flexible Thins Slab Rolling) QSP(Quality Strip Production) and ETR(Extra Thin Rolling) plant configurations are analyzed in this paper. With this diversified approach,Danieli solutions are most appropriate answers to thin slab casting and rolling to produce hot rolled coils with superior quality and an extremely diversified range of steel grades. Already,this approach has allowed Danieli plants to:①exceed the threshold production of 3.0 Mt/a with 2 casting strands in operation as done in Tangshan Iron and Steel plant in P.R.China since 2005;②expand the product mix to include virtually all the steel grades used for flat product applications,including the most demanding ones,such as peritectic(in Essar Algoma Canada and Benxi Iron and Steel,China),micro-alloyed,and silicon steels,for the most sophisticated applications,such as automotive and pipe manufacturing,including Arctic applications,(as done in OMK plant in Russia);③extend the range of final strip thicknesses to include ultra thin gauges,down to 0.8 mm(as in Ezz Flat Steel,in Egypt).

Flow and Temperature Fields in Slab Continuous Casting Molds

In order to develop super-board and super-thick slabs, the flow and temperatur fields were studied in slab continuous casting molds under different practical conditions, such as slab dimensions, with-drawing slab speed, design of nozzles, and superheat tempera-ture. The results showed that it is preferred to incline nozzle bores downwards and the submerged depth of the nozzles is best kept be-tween 250-300 mm. In addition, the solidified shell is thicker at the wide face than that at the narrow face, while the thin points alongthe wide face ekist both in the center and in the some area toward each respective end.

Modeling of unsteadiness of fluid flows and level fluctuations in thin slab continuous casting moulds

Unsteady fluid flows and level fluctuations in a thin slab continuous casting mould have significant influence on product quality. In this study, the phenomena concerning transient flow features and free surface motions were analyzed by means of the large eddy simulation （LES） software with the smagorinsky SGS model--VisualCast （VCast） II, where the Simpler algorithm on a body-fitted mesh was used to resolve governing equations. A series of water analog experiments on the fluid flow and the surface wave in the moulds of thin slab continuous casting were also performed. The results of fluid regions, middle of vortex and level fluctuation from digital simulations were identical with the results of the water analog experiments.

Technological Investigation on the Continuous Casting of Mid-Width Thin Slabs

Continuous casting of thin slabs is a key state project for 7th and sth five -year plans. On thebasis of foundamental works , CISRI condueted the tests of 102 heats in Lanzhou Steel Works in the periodof January 1991- June 1992. Three slab assortments of 50× 900 mm . 70 × 900 mm , 70 × 500 mm were ex-amined. In June of 1992, 412 t steel of 46 heats were cast with the efficiency of 91. 3 %. This. result meetsthe requiremeni of the state in this period. The mould, hedt transfer . casting technology and factors influ-encing slab’s qualities are investigated as well.

Optimization design of wide face water slots for medium-thick slab casting mold

A three-dimensional finite-element model has been established to investigate the thermal behavior of the medium-thick slab copper casting mold with different cooling water slot designs. The mold wall temperatures measured using thermocouples buried in different positions of the mold with the original designed cooling system were analyzed to determine the corresponding heat flux profile. This profile was then used for simulation to predict the temperature distribution and the thermal stress distribution of the molds. The predicted temperatures during operation matched the plant measurements. The results showed that the maximum temperature, about 635 K in the wide hot surface, was found about 60 mm below the meniscus and 226 mm from the center of the mold. For the mold with the type I modified design, there was an insignificant decrease in temperature of about 5 K, and for the mold with the type II modified design, the maximum temperature was decreased by about 15 K and the temperature of the hot surface was distributed more uniformly along the length of the mold. The corresponding maximum thermal stress at the hot surface of the mold was reduced from 408 MPa to 386 MPa with the type II modified design. The results indicated that the modified design II is beneficial to the increase of mold life and the quality of casting slabs.

Model control technologies of dynamic secondary cooling and soft reduction for slab continuous casting

Dynamic model control technologies of secondary cooling and soft reduction of Baosteel are introduced. Model principle and control system architecture are summarized, as well as functions and features. Finally, applications of model technologies are discussed. The self-developed dynamic secondary cooling model and the dynamic soft reduction model have been applied on several casting machines inside and outside Baosteel, desired control effects were achieved with good stability and reliability. Temperature measurement results verified the correctness of model.

The optimization of mold fluxes used for casting the peritectic steel of heavy slabs at Baosteel

In order to solve the problem of the high surface longitudinal crack ratio of heavy peritectic steel slabs produced by the No. 3 continuous caster at Baosteel,the physical properties of the original mold flux and the optimized mold flux were compared in a comprehensive way by using analytical measures, such as a slag film heat-flow simulator, a thermowire molten flux crystallization tester and an X-ray diffractometer in the laboratory. The results reveal that one of the major reasons for the cracks is the poor heat transfer ability of the original mold flux. However, the optimized mold flux with a high basicity features a high crystallizing rate,low crystallization temperature and low heat-flow density. Therefore, the optimized mold flux is more suitable for casting peritectic steel by the heavy slab continuous caster. The test results show that the slabs produced by using the optimized mold flux had no surface longitudinal crack in four test casts, while the surface longitudinal crack ratio of the slabs produced by using the original mold flux was 5%. The optimized mold flux can effectively prevent slab surface longitudinal cracks from occurring.

Modeling and control of dynamic soft reduction in continuous slab casting

The centerline segregation in continuous casting steel is known to be formed by the interdendritic enriched liquid flow at the solidification end in strand.At present,several methods,such as thermal soft reduction, electromagnetic stirring and dynamic soft reduction,are available to reduce the center segregation and to improve the internal quality.Although some methods could alleviate center segregation to some extent,they can also give rise to new problems.For instance,thermal soft reduction can lead to surface cracking during casting of some steels and electromagnetic stirring can result in white band.Dynamic soft reduction is an effective technology for the improvement of strand quality in continuous slab casting.In this paper,the key parameters of dynamic soft reduction technology,such as soft reduction region,the total reduction amount,for low carbon steel have been studied based on experimental and theoretical analysis.The soft reduction region was related to the segregation of chemical composition,slab bulging of narrow side and avoiding internal crack of slab.The total reduction amount was composed of natural thermal shrinkage and actual reduction amount depending on critical strain.For low carbon steel with slab dimension of(950 - 1 950) mm×170 mm,the solid fraction range in soft reduction region was recommended from 0.4 to 0.8,the total reduction amount was 2.0 -2.8 mm,and the optimized reduction rate was 0.4 - 1.2 mm/min,respectively.Furthermore,a dynamic soft reduction system in continuous slab casting, Visual Cast-Dynamic,has been developed by multithreading method.It demonstrated that the dynamic soft reduction model in this study was correct with the ability of online control.

Simulation of thermal behavior during peritectic steel solidification in slab continuous casting mold

Thermal behavior of the solidifying shell in continuous casting mold is very important to final steel products.In the present work,one two-dimension transient thermal-mechanical finite element model was developed to simulate the thermal behavior of peritectic steel solidifying in slab continuous casting mold by using the sequential coupling method.In this model,the steel physical properties at high temperature was gotten from the micro-segregation model withδ/γtransformation in mushy zone,and the heat flux was obtained according to the displacement between the surface of solidifying shell and the hot face of mold as solidification contraction,the liquid-solid structure and distribution of mold flux,and the temperature distribution of slab surface and mold hot face,in addition,the rate-dependent elastic-viscoplastic constitutive equation was applied to account for the evolution of shell stress in the mold.With this model,the variation characteristics of surface temperature,heat flux, and growth of the solidifying shell corner,as well as the thickness distribution of the liquid flux,solidified flux,air gap and the corresponding thermal resistance were described.

New Argon Stopper Technology for Slab Casting

Argon addition into the casting channel reduces the amount of clogging on the refractory wall to allow long sequence casting of aluminium-killed steel grades.The key to minimum surface defects on the final product is to establish the optimum quantity by optimising the gas distribution below the stopper nose.This is achieved by new argon stopper technology which supports low gas quantities with homogeneous gas and bubble distributions to float non-metallic inclusions(NMI)in the continuous casting mould.