Abstract
A novel chamfered mold is developed to solve the problem of corner transverse cracking in micro-alloyed steel slabs. The shape of the slab was changed from four corners and sides to eight corners and sides due to the use of a chamfered mold. Based on numerical simulation, the solidification and heat transfer of different steel grades in the mold are studied. The results reveal rapid solidification shrinkage of molten steel in the upper area of the mold and slow solidification shrinkage in the lower area; thus, a double-taper mold is designed according to these results. The first area of the variable taper falls in the range of 250–400 mm from the top of the mold, and the design method of double inclined water channels in the chamfered face is found to be the most helpful for the formation of a uniform initial shell and reducing hotspots of the mold. Actual production results show that the quality of the slab is better when the heat flux of the narrow face is larger than that of the broad face. Corner transverse cracking in micro-alloyed steels is greatly reduced from an incidence of 4.2% to less than 0.3%. In addition, the chamfered mold is applied in IF (interstitial free) steel production, and the edge quality of hot rolled sheets is found to also be dramatically improved.
Highlights
Corner transverse cracks, which usually occur in the slab continuous casting and appear along vibration marks at the corners of slabs, have attracted global attention regarding the formation mechanism of this defect [1,2]
To study the influence of the cooling water channel design in the chamfered mold during the slab continuous casting, a thermo-mechanical coupling model based on the 2D slice hypothesis is established to evaluate the uniformity of narrow face cooling in the mold
To study the influence of the cooling water channel design in the chamfered mold during the slab continuous casting, a thermo-mechanical coupling model based on the 2D slice hypothesis is Metals 2020, 10, established to evaluate the uniformity of narrow face cooling in the mold
Summary
Corner transverse cracks, which usually occur in the slab continuous casting and appear along vibration marks at the corners of slabs, have attracted global attention regarding the formation mechanism of this defect [1,2]. For hypo-peritectic steels in particular, the uneven solidification front leads to To solve these problems, Toru KATO developed the technique of SSC The variable taper of the is designed with a single water channel, the cooling effect of the face is insufficient and cannot meet narrow face of the mold is 240 mm from the top of the mold, while the variable taper actual contact the requirements of slab production at a high casting speed [14]. The flawless production of in a chamfered mold were studied in the present study, and a new water channel in the chamfered ultralow carbon, low carbon, medium carbon, and hypo-peritectic steels under high speed was faces and a variable taper area were designed. Low carbon, medium carbon, and hypo-peritectic steels under high speed was realized
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