Continuous Casting of Big-Size Pipe Shells

Abstract

In order to make high-precision big-size forgings and major-diameter wrought wheels, it is necessary to use ingots of at least more than 1000 mm in diameter. At the Taewoong factory in the Republic of Korea, SMS Concast has designed and put into operation a single-strand radial CC machine with a 120 t steel-teeming ladle for casting 1000-mm blanks. The high quality of the blanks is ensured by applying well-known engineering solutions, in particular, electromagnetic stirring of liquid metal in the crystallizer and induction pre-flattening heating of continuously cast ingots. The plant’s output is inhibited by a long ingot solidification period. The high product prime cost is determined by large capital investments. The equipment required for applying the fractional casting technology developed by the author and proposed for usage is user friendly and allows pipe shells for ring-roll mills to be created because they must be pierced on a piercing press to prepare the blanks for rolling. The process flow chart is presented and the multistrand plant developed for making ingots of 1200 mm in outside and 120 in inner diameter. The possibility of making these ingots on a commercial scale by fractional casting is confirmed by verification testing.