A casting-rolling integrated plant that is capable of producing, from a steel melt, in a cost-effective manner and with high productivity, a hot-rolled finished strip having a thickness of ≤0.6 mm, an excellent flatness, and an excellent profile by dividing the thickness reduction into at least three stages (roughing, intermediate and finishing train), measuring the actual profile after the roughing, intermediate and finishing train, and equipping the stands in the roughing, intermediate and finishing train with actuators for influencing the strip profile and/or the strip flatness.

Described are methods of preparing compositionally gradient aluminum alloy products. The methods may include casting a composite ingot in a mold. The composite ingot may include an inner region comprising a first aluminum alloy, an outer region surrounding the inner region, and a compositionally gradient zone between the inner region and the outer region. The outer region may include a second aluminum alloy different from the first aluminum alloy. At least one alloying element of the first aluminum alloy may have a content that is decreased through the compositionally gradient zone in a direction from the inner region to the outer region. Also described are aluminum alloy composite ingots and rolled aluminum alloy products having a compositionally gradient zone.

A slab manufacturing method in which casting drum housing screw-down system deformation characteristics which have been acquired prior to the start of slab casting and which indicate deformation characteristics of a housing configured to support a casting drum and deformation characteristics of a screw-down system configured to screw down the casting drum is used to calculate an estimated plate thickness at both end portions of a slab in a width direction thereof from Expression 1 ((estimated plate thickness on entry side of rolling mill)=(screw-down position of casting cylinder)+(elastic deformation of casting drum)+(casting drum housing screw-down system deformation)+(drum profile of casting drum)−(elastic deformation of casting drum at time of screw-down position zero-point adjustment)), an entry-side wedge ratio and an exit-side wedge ratio are calculated on the basis of the estimated plate thickness calculated from Expression 1.

Method to produce metal strip that comprises the casting of a cast product through a casting machine provided with a crystallizer to obtain a slab, and the hot rolling of the slab in a rolling station to obtain metal strip. The casting machine, during casting, exerts an action of reducing the thickness of the cast product exiting the crystallizer.

Using an apparatus for manufacturing a thin steel sheet including the followings which are arranged in order: a continuous casting machine (1) for a thin slab having a slab thickness of 70 mm to 120 mm at a lower end of a mold; a holding furnace (2) that is configured to maintain a temperature of a cast slab (10) and/or heats the cast slab (10); and a rolling stand (3) by which finish rolling is performed, the casting speed of the thin slab is set to 4 to 7 m/min, the slab (10) is reduced at a rolling reduction of 30% or more by the reduction roll (4) after solidification is completed and when a center temperature of the slab is 1300° C. or higher, and the slab (10) is held at a temperature of 1150° C. or higher and 1300° C. or lower for five minutes or longer in the holding furnace (2).

In an endless rolling line, a speed of a material to be rolled changes with a flying thickness change. A temperature control device executes predictive calculation of a speed change amount of the material to be rolled associated with the flying thickness change and updates a speed pattern. The temperature control device executes feedforward control of an amount of a coolant to cool the material to be rolled based on a latest speed pattern and a measured temperature value of the material to be rolled in an entry side of the heat exchanger. In parallel with the feedforward control, the temperature control device executes feedback control of coolant volume based on an error between the measured temperature value of the material to be rolled in the delivery side of the heat exchanger and a target value.

Crystallizer for the continuous high-speed casting of a metal product (P), which has a casting cavity (13) defined by walls (14) connected to each other in correspondence with edges (15) and provided with cooling means (16).

Method to produce metal strip that comprises the casting of a cast product through a casting machine provided with a crystallizer to obtain a slab, and the hot rolling of the slab in a rolling station to obtain metal strip. The casting machine, during casting, exerts an action of reducing the thickness of the cast product exiting the crystallizer.

An electromagnetic stirring device and a method for a secondary cooling zone during slab continuous casting. The device has a main body, an opening adjustment assembly, and a secondary cooling assembly. The main body has a protection housing (3), a phase sequence control assembly, an iron core (4) and an electromagnetic coil (5) for carrying out variable-direction electromagnetic stirring on a molten steel by a three-phase current phase sequence transformation. The opening adjustment assembly has an air cylinder (7), a fixed base (8), a movable joint shaft (12) and a silicon steel sheet group insert (13) for adjusting online opening degree of the closed annular iron core by a movable joint structure. The secondary cooling assembly has a cooling water inlet (9) and a cooling water nozzle (10) for cooling the electromagnetic coil and spraying cooling water to a surface of a cast slab (1).

A method for producing steel strip, in particular hot strip in the form of coiled coils or in the form of folded individual sheets, in which a steel melt is first produced, this is then formed into a strand in a continuous casting system, the strand is then fed into a heating unit and the heated strand is then rolled into hot strip in a subsequent rolling mill. The casting of the strand, the passage through the heating unit, and the rolling take place in a continuous process. To be able to produce hot-rolled steel strips in the most energy-efficient way possible and to make these strips available for further processing into high-quality cold-rolled and, if necessary, coated strips, the invention provides that, first of all, a steel melt is produced.