Revealing The Unknown: Monitoring The in-Mould Behaviour During Continuous Casting of Steel

During the last fifty years, continuous casting of steel as an industrialised method of solidification processing has made enormous advances. However, the continuous casting process still faces increasing demands related to production and product quality. The challenge to increase the output of the existing casters is evident as well as the need to improve the quality of the cast product. Furthermore, the product mix is continuously expanding to include more high-strength steels for critical applications. For these reasons, an in-depth knowledge of continuous casting, in particular related to in-mould processes, is crucial. Two of the main aspects of the continuous casting process of steel are mould fluid flow and mould heat transfer. This paper gives an overview of some techniques to monitor the casting process and casting process stability at the casters of Tata Steel IJmuiden. Attention is given to both mould fluid flow and mould heat transfer; the role of mould thermocouples to monitor in-mould behaviour is highlighted.