Considerations Regarding the Evolution of the Steel Thermal State in the Continuous Casting Plant

Abstract

In continuous casting it is very important that the cooling system is correctly dimensioned. Improper cooling conditions can reduce the quality of the finished product and cause perforations of the solidified crust. In order to be able to minimize the occurrence of defects, it is preferable that, under the conditions of a given cooling system, the temperature distribution in the steel wire be known. It is also necessary to know the thickness of the solidified crust, especially immediately below the crystallizer, because a thin crust at this level can be perforated due to the ferrostatic pressure of the steel. The knowledge of the thermal state of the steel in the continuous casting installation is necessary for the transposition on mathematical bases of the technological process and the elaboration of some models of simulation of the solidification, which would allow to optimize the operation of the afferent installations. By considering the convection motion can be explained the influence of electromagnetic agitation and deformation of the steel wire on the incompletely solidified area on the quality and structure of cast steels; convective currents reduce overheating, which leads to a decrease in columnar crystallization in favour of axial crystallization. By running the simulation program were determined the variation of the thermal flux at different levels in the tundish, as well as the evolution of the temperature at the surface of the continuously cast steel thread.