Past AIST Committee Activities
Current Activities
The Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC) met on Monday, May 3 during AISTech 2010, with 56 members in attendance. Current CCTC membership is at 113 members. Bill Schlichting reviewed the 2010 Steel Industry Fatalities Statistics, discussing the eight recorded fatalities so far this year. A safety round table discussion followed with plant safety incidents, near misses, and corrective actions taken that improved the overall plant safety performance. Election of the CCTC officers for 2010–2011 term resulted in the following: Steve Swoope, chair; Ray Miller, vice chair; Bill Schlichting, papers chair; Paul Laskey, membership chair; Jeff Brower, education chair; and Dave Beck, Caster Roundup chair. Darrell Sturgill was recognized as the new AIST Technology Division IV board of directors representative for the 2010–2012 term. The CCTC thanked Ron O’Malley as the past Division IV representative. The 2010 Best Paper Award was presented to Ron Kostyo, Marc Burty, James Bradley, Didier Dubois and Milan Alavanja for their paper, “Sliver Reduction at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor Steel Producing: An Operational Perspective.” Jeff Brower updated the committee on this year’s Caster Training Seminar, to be held in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 12–14, 2010. A tour of U. S. Steel Fairfield will conclude this two-day, single-track training seminar. Dave Beck presented the 2010 North American Caster Roundup to the CCTC for final review. The Caster Roundup was published in the July issue of Iron & Steel Technology. The Refractory Systems Technology Committee (RSTC) asked the CCTC to complete a survey. Further clarification will be needed, and an RSTC member will be asked to make a presentation at the next CCTC meeting. Two confirmed presentations for the next CCTC meeting will involve electromagnetic stirring: Len Beitelman will discuss its relevance to billet/bloom casting, and Pierre H. Dauby will discuss its relevance to slab casting. The next CCTC meeting will be on Tuesday, Oct. 12 in Birmingham, Ala., before the Caster Training Seminar registration. Bill Schlichting was presented the CCTC chair plaque for his continued participation with the Continuous Casting Technology Committee.
The Continuous Casting Technology Commttee (CCTC) met in Decatur, Ala., with 31 of its members and two members from the Metallurgy — Steelmaking & Casting Technology Committee (MSCTC) in attendance. The Nucor Steel–Decatur OSHA VPP Star status safety program was outlined by Tim Reeves and George Stephenson. The CCTC reviewed the Safety & Health Technology Committee’s Steel Industry Fatality Statistics for 2009 and 2010 YTD. The SHTC provided two 3-year graphs (2006–2009) that displayed the reason and type of steel industry fatalities. The AISTech 2009 Best Paper Award will be given to ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor for thei paper, “Sliver Reduction at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor: An Operation Perspective.” There is a total of six casting sessions at AISTech 2010, four of which will be held jointly with the MSCTC. The Continuous Casting Training Seminar will have a two-day single-session format and will be held in Birmingham, Ala., on Oct. 12–14, 2010. The CCTC officer rotation for 2010–2011 will be as follows: Steve Swoope, chair; Ray Miller, vice chair; Bill Schlichting, papers chair; Paul Laskey, membership chair; Dave Beck, Caster Roundup chair; and Jeff Brower, education chair. Darrell Sturgill will replace Ron O’Malley as AIST Division IV board of directors representative for the 2010–2012 term. The 2010 North American Caster Roundup will be published in the July issue of Iron & Steel Technology. CCTC recognized the efforts of Dave Beck, CCTC Roundup Chair, for his efforts in compiling new plant data. Presentations were made by Michael Badger, Philip Ponikvar and Ron O’Malley. Discussions for moving the Town Hall Forum from Wednesday morning to Wednesday afternoon at AISTech 2011 ended in a unanimous affirmative vote. The CCTC then toured Nucor Steel–Decatur’s steelmaking and casting departments.
The Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC) met in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 13, 2009, prior to the Casting Training Seminar. Bill Schlichting, CCTC chair, welcomed the 27 committee members and two guests in attendance. CCTC membership stands at 121 members. Hans Schade volunteered to take the meeting minutes. The meeting agenda included prior meeting minutes, AIST Anti-Trust Guidelines, staff announcements, AIST’s 2009 Steel Industry Fatality Statistics compiled by the Safety & Health Technology Committee, and a preliminary compilation of paper selections and scheduled sessions for AISTech 2010. The CCTC then discussed MS&T’09, which was scheduled for Oct. 26–29, 2009, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Schlichting and Ray Miller, CCTC Safety co-chair, were scheduled to represent the CCTC at the AIST Leadership Development Conference in Charlotte, N.C., held in conjunction with the annual Safety & Health Conference and the AIST Southeast Member Chapter fall meeting. A review of the 2009 Steel Industry Fatality Statistics started an open discussion on safety. Mr. Miller gave a safety-related PowerPoint presentation on behavior and “at risk” factors. Mr. Schlichting provided a review of a U. S. Steel – Gary Works fatality in which a crane maintenance shift manager fell from a crane deck. RFID technological advancements were discussed. The Material Handling Technology Committee, as well as the Packaging, Shipping & Transportation Methods Technology Committee, will have presentations regarding safety improvements made with RFID technology in high-traffic areas at their winter meetings. Any confirmed improvements will be communicated with other AIST committees. The 2009 Best Casting Paper Award selection committee was nominated: Ray Miller, Bruce Kozak, Jack Young, Jeff Brower and Phil Ponikvar will nominate this year’s Best Paper Award winner. Mr. Miller, CCTC papers chair, presented a schedule for the CCTC sessions at AISTech 2010. The CCTC will sponsor six sessions covering the following topics: CSP/thin slab machines; quality improvements on thick slab casters; heat transfer; brake technologies; and concurrent sessions on innovations in slab casting and in billet/bloom/beam blank technologies. The CCTC requested a joint session with the Safety & Health Technology Committee with papers detailing safety-related issues. Dave Beck, CCTC membership chair, has compiled a revision to the 2003 Casting Roundup. The Continuous Casting Roundup is set to be published in the March 2010 issue of Iron & Steel Technology. The next CCTC meeting will be in Decatur, Ala., on Feb. 10–11, 2010, with a tour of Nucor Steel–Decatur.
The Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC) met on Monday, May 4 at AISTech 2009. There were 51 members in attendance. The CCTC presented the 2008 Continuous Casting Award for Best Paper to Lifeng Zhang, Yufeng Wang, Xiangjun Zuo, Shusen Li and Wei Jin for their paper entitled, “Transport of Fluid Flow and Inclusions in Continuous Casting.” Steve Swoope, papers chair, reviewed the CCTC sessions scheduled at AISTech 2009. He asked each session chair to evaluate as many papers in CCTC sessions as possible so that an informed decision could be made as part of the Best Paper Nominating Committee. Darrell Sturgill, CCTC chair, discussed year-to-date fatality statistics for 2009. The plan to have two CCTC Safety co-chairs was approved by this group. The following CCTC officers were elected for 2009–2010: Bill Schlichting, chair; Steve Swoope, vice chair; Raymond Miller, papers chair and Safety co-chair; Jeff Brower, education chair; J.C. Raies, Safety co-chair; and Dave Beck, membership chair. The CCTC mission statement was reviewed and approved. The Continuous Casting Roundup was set for completion by July 31, 2009. Dave Beck, Jeff Brower, Ron O’Malley, Allen Horrex, Ray Miller, Steve Thomas, Ian Bakshi, Bruce Kozak, Jorg Peter, Frank Papay, Trevor Shellhammer and Mike Rennard are some of the CCTC members who have contributed to updating this roundup. A conference call on May 19 helped to narrow the plant facilities from which information was still needed. Jeff Brower discussed the fall training seminar scheduled for Oct. 13–15, 2009, in Charleston, S.C. CCTC member Jeff Powers will serve as the committee host while touring Nucor Steel–Berkeley. The next CCTC meeting will be held before the 2009 Continuous Casting Training Seminar in Charleston, S.C., in October. Presentation topics will include two caster safety projects (Ray Miller and J.C. Raies); sticker and breakout detection systems (Ron O’Malley and Bill Schlichting); centerline and soft reduction (Bruce Kozak), and cold weather hazards (presenter TBD). The CCTC winter 2010 meeting site will be Nucor Steel–Decatur, with host Ron O’Malley.
The Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC) met on Feb. 24–26 in Memphis, Tenn. The committee toured Nucor Steel–Memphis on Thursday morning, seeing the meltshop, ladle furnace, caster and rolling mill. Tuesday afternoon’s Producer-Only meeting was postponed. There were 31 members in attendance. On Wednesday, the attendees were welcomed by the CCTC chair, Darrell Sturgill. The CCTC membership is at 166 members, with nine new members since the previous meeting in October 2008. A safety round table discussion followed, which reviewed steel industry fatalities in 2008. Bill Emling suggested that the committee discuss each fatality. This conversation created a dialogue to consider electing two CCTC safety co-chairs, one a producer and one a supplier. A motion to create non-rotating safety co-chairs was approved by the committee. Steve Thomas of Gallatin Steel and J.C. Raies of Dover Hydraulics were elected to these new positions. Nominations were then accepted for the CCTC chair, which has to be filled by a producer member. Raymond Miller, TMK-IPSCO Koppel Tubulars; Jeff Powers, Nucor Steel–Berkeley; Scott Andrews, Nucor Steel–Hertford County; Mike Jones, Severstal Warren; and Mike Panzeri, Severstal Sparrows Point were nominated for committee chair or papers chair for 2009–2010. Steve Swoope was nominated for vice chair; Dave Beck was nominated for membership chair; and Jeff Brower and Bill Schlichting were nominated for education co-chairs. CCTC officer voting will take place on Monday, May 4 during AISTech 2009 in St. Louis, Mo. The 2008 Continuous Casting Award for Best Paper will be presented at this meeting to Lifeng Zhang, Yufeng Want, Xiangjun Zuo and Wei Jin for their paper entitled, “Transport of Fluid Flow and Inclusions in Continuous Casting Strands.” Dave Beck has updated 75% of the 2003 Caster Roundup, and Jeff Brower volunteered to complete the update for 2009. Bill Sadler, Todd Mannering and Matt Ashby presented an overview of Nucor Steel–Memphis and served as the tour hosts. Technical presentations with the theme “Casting Quality with Maintenance” were made by Jay Ondrovic, Castrip LLC; Jeff Brower, Siemens VAI; Bill Emling, SMS Demag; and Jeff Blankenship, MRSI. The next Continuous Casting Training Seminar will be Oct. 13–15, 2009, in Charleston, S.C. A tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley will be scheduled. Steve Swoope reviewed the five CCTC technical sessions scheduled for AISTech 2009. It was recommended to form a Best Paper subcommittee to review as many CCTC presentations as possible. The CCTC topics for the AISTech 2010 Call for Papers were reviewed and revised.
The Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC) met in Ecorse, Mich., and provided tours at U. S. Steel Great Lakes Works and Gerdau MACSTEEL on Oct. 21–23, 2008. The CCTC meeting began with presentations regarding surface quality sources and countermeasures, featuring Ed Szekeres (Casting Consultants), Greg Klepzig (U. S. Steel Great Lakes Works, tour host), Pierre Dauby (Danieli Rotelec), Mustafa Ozgu (ArcelorMittal Research), and Bart Stoessel (U. S. Steel Granite City Works). Plant tours began the next day with 20 CCTC members going to U. S. Steel Great Lakes and 13 members going to Gerdau MACSTEEL. Following a round table discussion regarding the tour, technical presentations regarding mold coatings were offered by Jeff Brower (Siemens VAI), Chad Donovan (SMS Millcraft), Charles Kay (ASB Industries), Brian Stalker (Corus Process Engineering), and Robert Betts (Cincinnati Thermal Spray). The next morning, the CCTC Producer Only Subcommittee convened. Recent safety issues were discussed in detail. Subcommittee chair Nick Valentine (The Timken Co.) headed a Q&A session for the five producer plants represented — Timken, U. S. Steel Great Lakes, U. S. Steel Granite City, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor and Severstal Warren.
The Continuous Casting Operating Committee (CCOC) met at AISTech 2008 in Pittsburgh, Pa., on May 5. Ron O’Malley of Nucor Steel–Decatur welcomed everyone in attendance. Mr. O’Malley and Darrell Sturgill, Stollberg Inc., reviewed the AIST/AISI integration status. The committee name has changed to the Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC). A producer-only subcommittee was formed, with Nick Valentine of The Timken Co. as chair. The CCTC mission statement was reviewed and approved as follows: “Serving the continuous casting membership by providing forums to learn about new and current technologies, discuss safe operating and maintenance practices, as well as network with industry professionals of all disciplines.” Kenneth Blazek and Oscar Lanzi from ArcelorMittal were presented with the Best Casting Paper Award. The agenda for the Continuous Casting Practical Training Seminar, scheduled for Oct. 14–16 in Merrillville, Ind., was approved. Jeff Brower of Siemens VAI and Bill Schlichting of U. S. Steel are seminar co-chairs. Nomination and election of committee officers took place. Mr. Sturgill was elected as chair, Simon Rodich of U. S. Steel Gary Works as vice chair, Stephen Swoope of Delavan as papers chair, Mr. Brower and Mr. Schlichting as education co-chairs, Dave Beck of Chem Treat Inc. as membership chair, and Nick Valentine as Producer Only Subcommittee chair. The next CCTC meeting will be Oct. 21–23. Meeting presentations will include “Surface Quality — Causes and Countermeasures” by Ed Szekeres of Casting Consultants and Simon Rodich of U. S. Steel Gary Works. Round table discussions will focus on the following topics: quality systems (ISO 9002), mold coatings, roll overlay, and a Q&A session. Mr. Sturgill and Simon Rodich will secure a plant site for the next CCTC meeting. The committee presented Mr. O’Malley with an award for his service as committee chair for 2007–2008. He will now serve on the AIST board of directors.
