Method for the continuous casting of a product (P) along a curved casting line (18), provided with a crystallizer (11) having a tubular cavity (12) with a polygonal cross section defined by a determinate number of sides (n). The product (P) exiting from the crystallizer (11) is curved along the casting line (18) by support and curving rollers (19) and without the aid of lateral containing sectors of the cross section of the product (P).

A system for producing electrodes for lead-acid batteries is disclosed. An electrode that has been produced comprises at least one upper and/or one lower frame element as well as a lattice-shaped region that extends away from said upper or lower frame element and has a plurality of openings, the upper and/or lower frame element being of a greater thickness than the lattice-shaped region. Said system comprises the steps of: a) producing a profiled strip-shaped blank using a casting method in which the strip-shaped blank is formed, solely by means of said casting method, to have a greater thickness on one side in at least one of the regions which should eventually form the upper or lower frame element, than the thickness in regions which should eventually form the lattice-shaped region, and b) producing said lattice-shaped region with the openings in a subsequent expanded metal process.

Methods of forming a high-strength metal alloy precursor by tailor-casting strips having a tailored thickness across a width of a strip material are provided. The tailor-cast strips have varying thickness throughout the width, which can then be further tailor rolled to a final required thickness profile/tailored thickness. Such tailor-casting method can be conducted by contacting a patterned surface of a casting roller or a casting block with a liquid high-strength metal alloy in a continuous casting process. The present disclosure provides methods of continuously casting a strip having varying thickness across the width allows for improved product in subsequent processing, like tailor rolling. Methods of making a high-strength metal alloy structural automotive component from a tailor-cast blank having a tailored thickness are also provided.

Method for the continuous casting of a product (P) along a curved casting line (18), provided with a crystallizer (11) having a tubular cavity (12) with a polygonal cross section defined by a determinate number of sides (n). The product (P) exiting from the crystallizer (11) is curved along the casting line (18) by support and curving rollers (19) and without the aid of lateral containing sectors of the cross section of the product (P).

A continuous-cast slab is provided where central porosity is reduced by surly crushing the slab. A method and apparatus of manufacturing the slab is also provided. The continuous-cast slab having horizontally symmetrical granular equiaxed crystals at least in the center in the thickness direction includes a first reduction dent and a second reduction dent that further dents from the bottom surface of the first reduction dent and is narrower than the first reduction dent at least on one long side surface. Such a configuration can makes it possible to achieve the continuous-cast slab of no more than 2.510.sup.4 cm.sup.3/g in a maximum porosity volume while segregation is reduced.

A method of forming tailored cast blanks including determining at least one of a thickness pattern or profile pattern for a blank, generating a layout for a series of blanks having the determined thickness or profile pattern and casting a strip in accordance with the layout, including varying the caster width during casting of the strip.

A method for manufacturing electrodes for lead-acid batteries includes producing a profiled strip blank in a casting process, wherein the casting process alone is sufficient to cause the strip blank to be formed of greater thickness on one side in a region corresponding to the upper frame element or the lower frame element than in another region corresponding to the meshed region; and producing the meshed region with the openings in a subsequent expanded metal process. In addition, an electrode produced by the method has an upper frame element, or a lower frame element, or both, and a meshed region extending away from the upper frame element, or the lower frame element, or both and having a plurality of openings. The upper frame element, the lower frame element, or both, is of greater thickness than the meshed region.

There is provided a method of continuous casting two or more long products using a single continuous twin casting strand (CCM) comprising two sub-strands. The process control of the method is automatic and comprises master/slave logic. wherein one sub-strand of the twin casting strand is a master sub-strand and remaining sub-strand(s) are slave sub-strand(s). The master strand has non-controlled metal flow and liquid metal level in the master sub-strand is regulated by adjusting casting speed. The liquid metal level in said slave strand(s) is regulated by adjusting the liquid metal pouring rate.

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.

A method for producing a cast strip of molten metal, in which the molten metal passes through a casting gap defined by two oppositely rotating casting rollers and is shaped into the cast strip, as well as the cast strip that is produced. By providing the cast strip in the casting gap with a different thickness in a first length section extending in the longitudinal direction of the cast strip than in a second length section bordering thereon, a metal strip is produced that has length sections with different thicknesses.