Improvement the Round Bloom Continuous Casting Technology at JSC “Ural Steel”

Abstract

The results of assessment of macrostructure and surface quality of round blooms 455 mm in diameter, cast on 4-strand continuous casting machine (CCM) at JSC “Ural Steel” are presented. The analysis of technological casting parameters of round blooms 455 mm in diameter (from steel grade “2”) at bloom caster of JSC “Ural Steel” are completed. Violations in casting temperature and rate parameters, which deteriorate thermal conditions of solidification and quality of continuous casting blooms, have been revealed. The main causes of unsatisfactory bloom quality have been determined, which are the increased overheating of cast metal and irrational secondary cooling mode. The results of the experiment to evaluate the surface temperature dynamics of a round bloom in the secondary cooling zone are presented, which confirmed the inefficiency of the secondary cooling mode for the defect-free bloom formation. As a result of thermal calculations of round blooms solidification of 455 mm in diameter, rational coolant flow rates by secondary cooling sections for bloom caster of JSC “Ural Steel” have been proposed. Optimized secondary cooling parameters provide a softer secondary cooling of the round bloom, which reduces the probability of the surface and internal defects development.