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Continuous Casting — A Practical Training Seminar

 
 
 
 
1. Presenters on the first day of Continuous Casting — A Practical Training Seminar included (left to right): Ron O’Malley, Brian Thomas, Joseph Laughlin, Bill Emling, Walt Antos, Bill Schlichting, Marc McClymonds, Darrell Sturgill, Steve Swoope and Eric Rosenow. 2. Presenters on the second day included (left to right): Mark Cook, Warren Doerner, Chad Donovan, Walt Antos, Ian Bakshi, Bill Schlichting, Ian Deeks, Eric Rosenow and Rick Besich. 3. The casting seminar included a panel discussion (left to right): Rick Besich, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor; Ian Deeks, Nucor Steel–South Carolina; Bill Schlichting, U. S. Steel Research and Technology Center; and Eric Rosenow, Nalco.

Conference Details: 12–15 October 2015, Charleston, S.C., USA, with Nucor Steel–Berkeley as host plant.

Conference Highlights: There were 86 in attendance at this 11th annual seminar. Jack Young, Hatch Ltd., started the conference with a historical perspective on strand solidification, which described the evolution of continuous casting.

Joseph Laughlin of SMS USA LLC and Walt Antos of Primetals Technologies USA LLC discussed influences on casting machine design, cast floor requirements, long product and slab casting equipment, and casting technology. Darrell Sturgill and Marc McClymonds of Imerys Metalcasting Solutions presented “Principles of Mold Flux Technology: An Operator’s Guide to Continuous Casting Flux.” Next, Brian Thomas of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discussed meniscus phenomena, surface defects, hook and oscillation mark formation mechanisms.

In the afternoon, Eric Rosenow of Nalco and Steve Swoope of Delavan presented “Caster Secondary Cooling and Water Treatment.” They described the critical nature of secondary water treatment, water system metrics, nozzle performance and water spray performance. Ron O’Malley of Missouri University of Science & Technology and past Continuous Casting Technology Committee (CCTC) chair discussed reasons to avoid re-oxidation, inclusion formation and slag carryover. Bill Emling, SMS USA LLC, discussed mold heat transfer, various breakout types and breakout prevention techniques.

The last presenter for the first day was Ron O’Malley, who presented “Caster Quality Defects and Potential
Causes With Slab and Billet Quality,” which described longitudinal cracks, transverse cracks and segregation.

The second day of the seminar started with Ian Bakshi of KME America Inc., whose presentation covered requirements of copper molds, mold design, operating factors affecting mold life and mold problems. Next, Chad Donovan of SMS Technical Services LLC described various types of casting molds, reasons for coating mold coppers, copper plating, nickel and nickel alloy coatings, and ceramic coatings. Walt Antos of Primetals Technologies USA LLC presented “Continuous Casting Rolls and Overlay Technologies,” which highlighted roller types, operational influence on rolls, roll overlay processes and materials, and maintenance impact on caster rolls.

Warren Doerner, SKF USA Inc., discussed bearings for casters, ladle turret bearings, mold oscillator bearings and segment roll bearings. Mark Cook of Yates Industries Inc. described different types and styles of cylinders, cylinder failures, and preventive maintenance.

The last presentation was made by Bill Schlichting, U. S. Steel Research and Technology Center and CCTC education co-chair, on billet and bloom caster maintenance issues. He discussed specific maintenance issues related to billet and bloom casters along with operating process guidelines.

The second day ended with a panel discussion with Ron O’Malley, Bill Schlichting, Eric Rosenow, Rick Besich and Ian Deeks. The following day, a tour of Nucor Steel–Berkeley’s steelmaking departments concluded the conference.