Provided herein is a system, apparatus, and method for continuous casting of metal, and more particularly, to a mechanism for controlling the shape of a direct chill casting mold to dynamically control a profile of an ingot cast from the mold during the casting process. Embodiments may provide an apparatus for casting material including: first and second opposing side walls; first and second end walls extending between the first and second side walls, where the first and second opposing side walls and the first and second opposing end walls form a generally rectangular shaped mold cavity. At least one of the first and second opposing side walls may include two or more contact regions, where each of the two or more contact regions may be configured to be displaced relative to a straight line along the side wall.

A method of controlling a continuous casting system for producing slabs from a material, the continuous casting system having a number of molds for forming corresponding strands, the method including receiving a plurality of casting orders, determining for each of the casting orders a set of slabs to be cast, sorting the slabs to be cast of the sets of the casting orders to obtain a sorted base sequence, uniformly partitioning the sorted base sequence into a number of subsequences, adjusting slab widths of the slabs to be cast of the subsequence, wherein, due to the adjustment, the width changes between two slabs to be cast immediately one after the other in the subsequence do not exceed a step value, wherein adjusted subsequences are obtained from the adjusted slab widths, transmitting control data to the continuous casting system for producing the slabs to be cast determined in the adjusted subsequences.

A continuous casting device having multi-stage convergence control is disclosed. Cooling surfaces of the continuous casting device can be articulated in stages, providing individual convergence control to longitudinally spaced-apart regions of the casting cavity. In a proximal region, during which the molten metal exhibits solidification shrinkage, a first convergence profile can be used to optimally account for the solidification shrinkage. In a subsequent distal region, a second convergence profile can be used, such as to provide optimal control of exit temperature of the continuously cast article. Multi-stage convergence control can be achieved through individually articulatable cooling pads or other supports positioned opposite the cooling surfaces from the casting cavity to displace the cooling surfaces and thereby adjust the convergence profile of the casting cavity. Actuation of the individually articulatable cooling pads can effect different convergence profiles along the length of the continuous casting device.

A method and apparatus of continuously casting thin strip by controlling roll crown is provided. The apparatus for continuously casting thin strip by controlling roll crown includes at least two expansion rings positioned within and adjacent a cylindrical tube and spaced within 450 mm of edge portions of the cast strip formed on opposite end portions of casting rolls during a casting campaign. Alternatively or in addition, the apparatus includes at least one expansion ring within the cylindrical tube at a position corresponding to center portions of the cast strip formed on the casting rolls during a casting campaign. Each expansion ring has at least one heating element and an insulating coating thereon and is adapted to increase in radial dimension causing the cylindrical tube to expand changing roll crown of the casting surfaces of the casting rolls and thickness profile of the cast strip during casting.

This disclosure concerns methods and apparatus for continuously casting thin strip where one or more expansion rings are positioned within at least one of a pair of casting rolls, and automatically measuring a thickness of the cast strip close to the first side edge of the strip using at least one sensor, and if the thickness measured is too thin, automatically decreasing the radial dimension of the expansion ring arranged in close proximity to the first side edge to cause the cylindrical tube to contract and increase the thickness of the cast strip during casting, and if the thickness measured indicates that the thickness of the cast strip is too thick, automatically increasing the radial dimension of the expansion ring arranged in close proximity to the first side edge to cause the cylindrical tube to expand and reduce the thickness of the cast strip during casting.

The present invention provides a heat transfer-based width adjustment method for a continuous casting mold. A boundary condition of a horizontal acceleration velocity used in heat transfer-based width adjustment of a continuous casting mold is set to a minimum value subject to constraints of a maximum air gap and shell strength. The present invention can constrain a maximum air gap between a copper plate of a narrow mold wall and a casting billet in a heat transfer-based width adjustment process for a continuous casting mold, thereby ensuring sufficient contact between the copper plate of the narrow mold wall and the casting billet, so as to prevent cracks and other defects of the casting billet due to excessive thermal resistance of the air gap, insufficient corner cooling of the casting billet, delayed solidification and concentrated thermal deformation stress. Moreover, a strain of the shell is controlled to be less than a critical strain, thereby preventing collapse of the casting billet, and preventing the casting billet from being scrapped as a result of an uneven narrow wall. Furthermore, since parameter settings of a width adjustment model dynamically change with a casting speed change, width adjustment can be performed within a full casting speed range without having to increase or decrease the casting speed.

A casting of metal strip by continuous casting in a twin roll caster is provied. In a twin roll caster, molten metal is introduced between a pair of counter-rotated horizontal casting rolls that are cooled so that metal shells solidify on the moving roll surfaces. The twin roll caster is capable of continuously producing cast strip from molten steel through a sequence of ladles positioned on a turret. In casting thin strip by twin roll caster, the crown of the casting surfaces of the casting rolls varies during a casting campaign. The crown of the casting surfaces of the casting rolls in turn determines the strip thickness profile.

Methods and apparatus for continuously casting thin strip where one or more expansion rings are positioned within at least one of a pair of casting rolls, and automatically measuring a thickness of the cast strip close to the first side edge of the strip using at least one sensor, and if the thickness measured is too thin, automatically decreasing the radial dimension of the expansion ring arranged in close proximity to the first side edge to cause the cylindrical tube to contract and increase the thickness of the cast strip during casting, and if the thickness measured indicates that the thickness of the cast strip is too thick, automatically increasing the radial dimension of the expansion ring arranged in close proximity to the first side edge to cause the cylindrical tube to expand and reduce the thickness of the cast strip during casting.

Provided herein is a system, apparatus, and method for continuous casting of metal, and more particularly, to a mechanism for controlling the shape of a direct chill casting mold to dynamically control a profile of an ingot cast from the mold during the casting process. Embodiments may provide an apparatus for casting material including: first and second opposing side walls; first and second end walls extending between the first and second side walls, where the first and second opposing side walls and the first and second opposing end walls form a generally rectangular shaped mold cavity. At least one of the first and second opposing side walls may include two or more contact regions, where each of the two or more contact regions may be configured to be displaced relative to a straight line along the side wall.

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.