1. Presentation

1.1 Development stages

The development path for continuous casting of thin strips typically comprises three successive stages.

The first is to select the basic process technology, based on considerations of strip thickness and the plant's target mass flow rate. The chosen productivity allows a priori determination of roll diameter, ingot mould meniscus height and casting speed. Mathematical simulations are sufficient at this stage to specify and validate these choices.

The next step is process debugging, a long and tedious process that needs to be carried out empirically on the basis of small-scale experiments on hot mock-ups, in order to make precise choices about a large number of key technologies relating to the following questions:...