A feeding/distribution device of a continuous casting machine, including an upper shell joined to a lower shell so as to form a chamber which has an inlet and an outlet; the device is installed at casting rolls of the machine in order to feed liquid aluminum or zinc to the casting rolls; the device is characterized in that it is made of composite materials based on carbon, graphite, calcium silicate.

Apparatus and methods for casting a metal strip with a cross sectional form which varies along the length of the strip. One embodiment of the apparatus includes opposing cooling systems, a positionable molten metal feed system between the opposing cooling systems, and a form adjustment system. The form adjustment system may include at least one dam to determine, at least in part, the cross sectional form of a molten metal feed to the opposing cooling systems. In this way, it is possible to determine the cross sectional form of the solidified metal strip. The dam is moveable during operation of the apparatus to vary the cross sectional form of the molten metal feed to the opposing cooling systems.

Provided is a thin duplex stainless steel sheet manufactured by a method for manufacturing a thin duplex stainless steel sheet using a twin-roll strip casting process. The thin duplex stainless steel sheet comprising, by weight: 0.1% or less carbon (C) (exclusive of 0%), 0.2-3.0% silicon (Si), 1.0-4.0% manganese (Mn), 19.0-23.0% chromium (Cr), 0.3-2.5% nickel (Ni), 0.15-0.3% nitrogen (N), 0.3-2.5% copper (Cu), a balance of iron (Fe), and inevitable impurities, wherein the thin duplex stainless steel sheet has a necking-down width of 10 mm or less and a recrystallized grain size of 5-8 m in a rolling direction.

A system and method for continuous casting. The system includes a melt chamber, a withdrawal chamber, and a secondary chamber therebetween. The melt chamber can maintain a melting pressure and the withdrawal chamber can attain atmospheric pressure. The secondary chamber can include regions that can be adjusted to different pressures. During continuous casting operations, the first region adjacent to the melt chamber can be adjusted to a pressure that is at least slightly greater than the melting pressure; the pressure in subsequent regions can be sequentially decreased and then sequentially increased. The pressure in the final region can be at least slightly greater than atmospheric pressure. The differential pressures can form a dynamic airlock between the melt chamber and the withdrawal chamber, which can prevent infiltration of the melt chamber by non-inert gas in the atmosphere, and thus can prevent contamination of reactive materials in the melt chamber.

An apparatus for the automatic startup of a continuous casting line, including a vessel which is connected to a tip by means of a gate, the tip feeding a casting housing. The apparatus includes a laser device which measures the level of the metal within the vessel, a level control device, which adjusts the introduction of liquid metal into the vessel, a gate actuator to control the gate for providing a barrier between the vessel and the tip, a transducer for the temperature of the metal inside the vessel, and a PLC which receives data from the temperature transducer and from the laser device to control the level control device and the gate actuator, so as to adjust the vessel metal level to ensure a correct and continuous flow of metal toward the casting cylinders, to avoid poor diffusion of the metal inside the tip.

Provided is a method of manufacturing a grain-refined aluminum-zinc-magnesium-copper alloy sheet, including manufacturing an aluminum alloy sheet from an aluminum-zinc-magnesium-copper alloy melt by twin-roll strip casting, primarily rolling the aluminum alloy sheet manufactured in step 1, cold rolling the aluminum alloy sheet manufactured in step 2, and performing a heat treatment on the aluminum alloy sheet manufactured in step 3, thereby reducing processing time and cost by using twin-roll casting. Since grain refinement and homogenization of the sheet manufactured by the twin-roll casting are maximized by sequentially performing warm rolling, cold rolling, and a heat treatment on the sheet, elongation may be improved.

A weathering steel made by preparing a molten melt producing an as-cast carbon alloy steel strip with a corrosion index of at least 6.0 comprising, by weight, 0.02%-0.08% carbon, <0.6% silicon, 0.2%-2.0% manganese, <0.03% phosphorus, <0.01% sulfur, <0.01% nitrogen, 0.2%-0.5% copper, 0.01%-0.2% niobium, 0.01%-0.2% vanadium, 0.1%-0.4% chromium, 0.08%-0.25% nickel, <0.01% aluminum, and the remainder iron and impurities. The molten melt is solidified and cooled into a cast strip 4 mm in thickness in a non-oxidizing atmosphere. The strip is hot rolled in an austenitic temperature range above Ar.sub.3 to between 10% and 50% reduction, cooled at above 20 C./s and coiled below 700 C. to form a steel strip with a microstructure comprising bainite and acicular ferrite with more than 70% niobium in solid solution. Then, age hardening the strip resulting in a yield strength of at least 550 MPa and a total elongation of at least 8%.

A twin roll casting system where the casting rolls have a nip between the casting rolls, each roller having a circumference and a rotational period. The casting roll controller adjusts the nip between the casting rolls in response to control signals. The sensor measures at least one parameter of the cast strip. The ILC controller receives strip measurement signals from the sensor and provides control signals to the casting roll controller. The ILC controller includes an ILC control algorithm to generate the control signals based on the strip measurement signals and a time delay estimate based on circumference, rotational period, and a length of cast strip between the nip and the sensor to compensate for an elapsed time from the cast strip exiting the nip to being measured by the cast strip sensor.

Provided are a method of manufacturing an aluminum-zinc-based alloy sheet using twin-roll casting and an aluminum-zinc-based alloy sheet manufactured thereby. Specifically, a method of manufacturing an aluminum-zinc-based alloy sheet, including preparing a melt by melting elements corresponding to an aluminum alloy including 0.5 wt % to 10 wt % of zinc, inevitable impurities and aluminum as a balance (step 1); and twin-roll casting by introducing the melt prepared in step 1 between a pair of rotating cooling rolls (step 2), and an aluminum-zinc-based alloy sheet manufactured thereby are provided. The present invention may manufacture an aluminum-zinc-based alloy sheet, in which twin-roll casting is known to be difficult due to a wide solid-liquid coexistence region, by twin-roll casting by using cooling rolls having high thermal conductivity and controlling a reduction force by the rotational speed of the rolls.

Embodiments include a method of making steel with low carbon content which includes preparing a heat of molten steel composition in a steelmaking furnace to a tapping temperature ranging from 2912 to 3060 degrees F. and tapping into a ladle the molten steel composition having an oxygen level is about 700 to 1000 ppm. The molten steel composition is then transported to a ladle metallurgy furnace, where the molten steel composition is further heated and one or more elements are added to the molten steel composition. The molten steel composition is then transported from the ladle metallurgy furnace to a vacuum tank degasser. The molten steel composition is then decarburized and one or more elements are added to the molten steel composition at the vacuum tank degasser for deoxidization and desulphurization. The molten steel composition is then transported to a ladle metallurgy furnace to further adjust chemistry and temperature.