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Online Course - Theoretical and Practical Aspects of Strand Solidification to Increase Productivity and Reduce Quality Defects

On demand and instant access to the full course consisting of three modules.

To maximise learning it is recommended that each module is completed in sequence.

What the course covers

The course covers Caster primary and secondary cooling waters, determination and importance of steel liquidus temperatures and practical methods to assess as cast product quality.

Learning Outcomes

• The casting of high-quality steels at high casting speeds requires optimum primary and secondary cooling waters
• The design of secondary cooling water spray systems must be undertaken using strand solidification models, thereby ensuring the correct spray layout and spray water flows to give the desired strand temperature profiles
• Secondary cooling water systems require constant checking and maintenance to ensure optimum performance
• Poor secondary cooling water systems can result in significant additions processing costs or even scrapped slabs.
• Accurate steel liquidus determination and therefore steel superheat is a prerequisite for
•  safe casting, that is, reduced risk of breakouts
• increased production of prime as-cast product, that is, casting at COP speeds and casting within a temperature band
• increased productivity, that is, reduced sequence breaks, reduced returned steel, reduced tundish freeze ups, reduced breakouts and the potential for faster casting
• Accurate determination of steel superheat enables the making of proactive decisions at the casting machine by the caster operators
• Liquidus determination is by calculation or direct in situ measurement
• Thermodynamic liquidus calculations give the most accurate results compared to simple linear regression equations
• The temperature of pure iron has reported values of 1534 – 1542degC, with 1536/37degC temperatures considered the most accurate
• A through the wall temperature measurement system provides a safe, accurate and practical method for continuous temperature measurement compared to the traditional immersion thermocouple spot measurement
• A perquisite when casting new steel grades is to have a complete understanding of the customer requirements, particularly internal quality specifications and dimensional tolerances
• Sulphur printing and etch printing are excellent methods of determining the internal quality of as-cast slab, bloom and billet
• The most widely used internal quality grading system, that is, the Mannesmann system, whilst qualitative and subjective, if used correctly, is the best method
• Generally, dimensional defects are not routine issues, but when they do occur, root causes must be quickly identified
• The use of various solidification formulas in conjunction with knowledge of segment positions in the machine, it is possible to calculate shell thicknesses, metallurgical lengths and exact location of inter columnar cracking

Who should access the course?

Practitioners in the Steel industry, such as scientists, researchers, technologists, technology managers and Operations and Operational management. Those who are, or who aspire to be senior leaders within the Steel industry or academia.

Course Duration

3 x 40 minute modules

Course Presenter

David Stamp B.Sc.
Senior Researcher

David’s background is over 40 years in the steel industry, primarily to research and develop new technologies and innovation in both steelmaking and casting operations. This has included:

• A world first, in the commercial production of Spheroidal Graphite Iron by the injection of magnesium reagents via a ladle sliding gate, for the manufacture of cast iron ingot moulds
• A world first in the use of a vacuum tundish system for the casting of slabs on a production casting machine

From 2001 to 2010 employed in the Steelmaking Technical Department on a 3MT a year production plant. Worked on bloom and slab casters, to improve casting practices, test new refractory products and day to day quality control of the as cast product.

At present, David is a Senior Researcher at the Materials Processing Institute, the project coordinator of a multi-national European project including comprehensive modelling, monitoring and control of solidification for optimisation of continuous casting processes.

Enrolment options for this course

Enrol for the full course, or go through the modules separately (to maximise learning it is recommended that each module is completed in sequence).