An arch segment in an arch region of a strand-guiding device guides and deflects a cast strand made of metal into the horizontal after leaving a mold. The arch segment has an upper frame and a lower frame, on each of which a plurality of strand-guiding rollers are rotatably mounted. The upper frame and the lower frame are connected together such that the respective strand-guiding rollers thereof are arranged opposite one another in a mutually spaced manner and define an arch-shaped guide channel for guiding the cast strand. In order to reduce bulging of the cast strand in the arch region of the strand guide, at least one of the strand-guiding rollers on the upper frame and/or the lower frame is designed in the form of an axle roller.

Continuous casting apparatus, comprising a mold and a crystallizer for the continuous casting of a metal product. The mold is provided with primary cooling means using a cooling fluid and associated with the walls of the crystallizer. A plurality of cooling members is installed downstream of the mold to perform a secondary cooling of the product, said cooling members comprising a plurality of delivery nozzles configured to deliver a liquid for cooling the product.

A method for producing an ultra-thin strip of less than 0.8 mm from cast steel in batch/continuous operation with a casting-rolling system. The method includes casting a thin slab having a casting thickness of 90-150 mm and width of at least 1000 mm at a casting speed of 7 m/min. The thin slab is heated/homogenized to a first temperature in a continuous furnace and subsequently rolled by at least seven final roll stands into an ultra-thin band. Neither the thin slab nor strip undergo inductive heating during production. The thin slab rolling steps include rough rolling the thin slab at the heated/homogenized first temperature by a roughing stand; heating/homogenizing the rough-rolled thin slab to a second temperature by a further continuous furnace; and finally rolling the rough-rolled thin slab at the second temperature to the ultra-thin strip by the final roll stands arranged downstream of the further continuous furnace.

An apparatus for producing and further processing slabs of a metal, preferably steel, comprises: a continuous casting apparatus, which is designed to produce at least one cast strand and to transport it in a transport direction; a cutting device, which is arranged behind the continuous casting apparatus, as seen in the transport direction, and is designed to cut the cast strand into slabs; at least a first route and a second route, which implement, at least in some portions, different process lines for the further processing of the slabs; and a process control system, which is designed to make a route decision on a slab-specific basis as a function of at least one measured or calculated process parameter, which route decision assigns one of the plurality of routes to the respective slab, and to initiate the further processing of the corresponding slab along the assigned route.

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.