1

STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA LTD (SAIL)

BHILAI STEEL PLANT
2015-2016

SUMMER PROJECT
ON
STUDY OF MODERN SLAB CASTER AND
ITS CONTROL PARAMETERS
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF: Shri N. Shrikanth
AGM,CCS
Shri Nishant Toppo
DM,CCS
Submitted By:Kalyan Mishra
Ram Lakhan Kr. Gupta
G. Abhishek
Pawan Kr. Gupta
Harish Kumar
(OPJIT,RAIGARH)

CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
Preface
1.Introduction of Steel
2.About Bhilai Steel Plant(BSP)
3.Continuous Casting Of Steel
4.Modern Slab Caster
5.Features Of Slab Caster
6.Achievements
7.Defects
8.Control Parameters
9.Procedure And Observations
10.

Analysis And Conclusions

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The sense of achievement that accompanies the successful completion of
the project would be incomplete without the mention of people who
made it possible.
I would like to articulate my profound gratitude to project guide Shri N.
Shrikanth (AGM, CCS) and Shri Nishant Toppo (DPTY MGR.,CCS), Caster6, BSP, SAIL for their active supervision, valuable suggestions and
continuous support throughout the course of project work. I am
thoroughly indebted to him for providing his excellent guidance,
constructive suggestions, positive and supportive attitude and continuous
encouragement at all the stages of work. This project would not have taken
its present shape without their sincere efforts to nurture us.

I am also thankful to training engineer, Shri Rajesh Devangan and Shri S.K.
Marathe (AGM, HRD), who contributed immensely by all sorts of help for
accomplishing this undertaking.

An assemblage of this nature could never have been attempted without

reference to and inspiration from the works of others whose details are
mentioned in reference section.

Preface
The content of this report is based on the Bhilai steel plant, SAIL. In this
report we will be studying about the steel plant, metal processing and
continuous casting. This technology has been adopted across worldwide
due to its improved yield, quality, productivity and cost efficiency.

Bhilai steel plant has six continuous caster in which blooms and slab are
produced. Among these caster number 6 is most advanced caster which is
of vertical, redial and conventional continuous type. It produces slabs of
length 5000-11000mm and width of 1100-1800mm. This machine is
controlled by specific sequence or algorithms. All the interlocks required
for the correct functioning are provided in automatic mode.

Few slabs have defects of type longitudinal cracks, transverse cracks and
edge cracks which are caused by improper cooling, oscillation and casting
speed. The aim of this project is to find the cause of LC which is
occasionally seen in slabs produced from caster no.6, CCS at BSP. Study of
the oscillation, casting speed, temperature gradient, heat extraction was
carried out during this project.

1. INTRODUCTION TO STEEL
Steels are alloy of iron and carbon. The amount of carbon in typical steel
alloys constitutes up to 2.1% of its weight. The varying amount of alloying
element in steel either as a solute or precipitated phases retards the
movements of dislocations thats make iron comparatively ductile and
weak. Hence it controls the hardness, ductility and tensile strength of
resulting steel. The basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS) process, today,
replaces the old methods of production by further lowering the cost of
production and increasing the quality of steel. Today steel is one of the
most common material in world, with more than 1.3 billion tonnes being
produced annually. Due to it high tensile strength and low cost it is used in
making structures, constructions and various other applications. It is a
major component in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles,
machines, applications and weapons.
We commonly talk iron and steel industry as single entity but
historically it is a separate products. The steel industry indicates the
economic progress, because it play a critical role in infrastructure and
economic development. The economic boom in China and India has
caused a massive boom in the demand for steel in recent years. Between
2000 and 2005, world steel demand increased by 6%. Since 2000, several
Indians and Chinese steel firms have grown like Tata steel, Shanghai
Baosteel Group Corporation and Shanghai group. Arcelor Mittal is the
world largest steel producer. According to the British Geological survey,
2005, china is the top steel producer with about one third of the world
share, followed by japan, Russia, and the US respectively.
Steel is one of the worlds most recycled material, recycling rate of over
60% globally. In United State alone over 82,000,000 metric tonnes was
recycled in the year 2008 for an overall recycling rate of 83%.

The liquid steel is continuously cast into long slabs or cast into ingots.
Approximately
96% of steel is continuously cast, while only 4% is
produced as ingots. The ingots are heated in a soaking pit and hot rolled
into a slabs, blooms, or billets. Slabs are hot or cold rolled into sheet metal
or plates. Billets are hot or cold rolled into bars, rod and wire. Blooms are
hot or cold rolled into structural steel, such as I-beams and rails.

2. ABOUT BHILAI STEEL PLANT

The Bhilai Steel Plant located in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh is Indias first and major
producer of steel rails as well as major products of wide steel plates and
other steel products. It is a subsidiary of SAIL. The plant also produces
other by-products from its plants like slag, coke etc. It was setup with the
collaboration of USSR in 1959.
The eleven time winner of PM Trophy for best integrated steel plant in country,
BSP has been sole producer of rails, heavy steel plates and structural steel. It has
its own series of Blast Furnace, LD Converters, Secondary Metallurgy Ladles, Billet
and Bloom Casters, and Research and Development Lab.
Locomotives are used to transport products from one place to
another inside the plant.
BSP has the record of producing longest rail of 260m. BSP is the
flagship unit of Steel Authority of India Ltd. contributing to major
profit percentage.
HISTORY

The governments of India and USSR entered into an agreement in New

Delhi on 2 March, 1955 for the establishment of integrated iron and steel
works at Bhilai with an initial capacity of 1 million tons ingot.
The main consideration of Bhilai was due to availability of iron ore at Dalli ,

Rajhra about 100 km from the site, limestone from Nandini about 25 km
from the plant and dolomite from hirri, about 140 km from the site.
The plant was commissioned with the inauguration of first blast furnace by
first president, Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 4 February, 1959. The capacity of
plant was extend to 2.5 MT by September 1967 and a further expansion to 4
MT took place in 1988. The main focus in 4 MT stage was continuous casting
unit and plate mill, a new technology for developing India.
MODERNISATION AND EXPANSION PROGRAMS

Projects in progress include a new compressed air station, oxygen plant,

new installations to support power requirements and ore handling
capacities expansion. Presently the total requirements of plant is met
through the Dalli, Rajhra mines. In view of depleting reserves, BSP is now
opening an iron ore mine at Rowghat, about 80 km from Dalli, in
Narayanpur district in Chhattisgarh. Accordingly, BSP will mine iron worth
capacity of 14 MT annually.
The Bhilai Steel Plant has developed steel for one of the Railways most
challenging projects, construction of the 345 km railway line between
Jammu and Baramula at an investment of 19000 crores(US$ 3.0 billion). BSP
has also developed the soft iron magnetic plates for the prestigious India
based Neutrino Observatory project of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
It has also developed special grade high tensile (DMR249A) steel for building
Indias first indigenously built anti-submarine warfare corvette, INS
Kamorta.

3. CONTINOUS CASTING OF STEEL

The continuous casting process, both in the technological as well as on the
plant parameters, was and remained a basic concern of all the specialists in
the steel making industry.
The world energy crisis, the consumers quality demands, the need to adjust
prices to the market demand, were the main factors that simulated the
technological development and generalization in the continuous casting in

last 60-70 years.

Concerns in the development of continuous casting technology, either
theoretically or through industrial experiments, refers to the possibility of
defining and cataloguing the surface defects specific to the continuously cast
semi-finished products, in order to discover the generating source and to take the
proper measures to prevent and remedy them at appropriate.
The steel is moved from ladle to the tundish with the help of shroud, which
ensures a controlled flow of metal to the moulds, of appropriate form, water
cooled. To prevent the sticking of solidified crust, the mould oscillates in the
casting direction with a higher speed than casting speed and into the mould is
added a powdery lubricant.
The powder consists of CaO, Na2O, and Al2O3. The function of this powder is:
It acts as a thermal barrier.
II. It avoids the oxidation of the metal.
III. It percolates between mould and hot metal and acts as lubricant.
IV.

It simulates uniform heat transfer.

The mould is the essential technological component of the caster, which

determines the shape of the profile cross-section, releasing the liquid solid phase
transformation, by a sudden and directed cooling, at the vertical casting into a
water-cooled double walled cavity. The delivery is made through SEN (Submerged
Entry Nozzle). This is called primary cooling. At one strand, the cooling water flow
differs from one dimension to another, its value ranging between 60-65 m3h (at
the mould for 180mm) and 110-125 m3h (at the mould for bloom 240x270 mm).

The strands are extracted and further cooled by using a direct water jet system.
The purpose of the secondary cooling is to continue the cooling of the profile
after leaving the mould, and to hurry the complete solidification of the cross

section of the semi-finished product. The cooling in this area is achieved by direct
pressure water spray, through nozzles, so that water is able to pass through the
steam layer formed by evaporation, and to ensure the continuous and permanent
contact with the metal. The sprinkling must ensure the adequate cooling afferent
to a constant temperature drop, from the mould exit to the end of the secondary
cooling zone. The solidification of steel in the mould is achieved by the formation
of crusts, whose thickness increases due to water splashing of the profile in the
secondary cooling zone. The profile further extracted and straightened by passing
through the drawing straightening stands. The dummy bar is separated from the
end of the cast metal billet. The billet (completely solidified) is cut at
predetermined lengths (5-8 m), with the flame cutting machine. The cut billets
(blooms) are further moved on the roller table to the stoppers, from where they
are taken over by transverse conveyors and carried on the cooling bed.

4. MODERN SLAB CASTER

The slab caster in Bhilai steel plant is of vertical-curve conventional type. Mould of
the caster is vertical type. After that there is a multipoint bending. The curvature

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radius is 8,200 mm. The vertical length i.e. from top of the copper to the first
bending is 2,320 mm. It has two tundish car, but at a time only one tundish is
used. The capacity of the tundish is 40 tons, if goes beyond 45 tons then overflow
will occur. Casting is controlled by the Submersed entry nozzle (SEN). Steel flow
from the ladle to tundish and from tundish to mould is controlled by the slide
gate. Metal level in the mould is controlled by mould level controller (MLC) which
works on eddy current. It is made up of flat water cooled copper plate of vertical
type with height 900 mm. The width of the mould is changed with the help of
electrical drivers. It is of taper type. Its four sides oscillates by hydraulic system.
Primary cooling is carried out in mould only. In secondary cooling, there are 16
separate loops in which 2 loops are water only and 14 loops are air mist. All the
loops are automatically controlled. Slab is extracted from mould by the help of
pinch rolls. Strand is cut by oxygen cut machine. Dummy bar which is flexible type
and is inserted from bottom of the mould supported by back rolling of the pinch
rolls.

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5.FEATURES
PRODUCTIVITY FEATURES

Ladle capacity
Tap to tap time
Nominal production hourly
Nominal production yearly
Casting speed
Sequence index
Restranding time

110 tons
60 minutes
110 tons/hour
800,000 tons/year
0.8 m/min
2.0 m/min
10
912urs(38days)

average
Average from BOF

minimum
maximum

PRODUCT FEATURES
Slab width
Nominal slab thickness
Slab length

1100 mm
1800 mm
220 mm
5000-11000 mm
1800-3350 mm

minimum
Maximum
Slab length in line
Slab length to feed plate mill

6. ACHIEVEMENT
There are some major achievement of caster number 6 in Bhilai steel plant that is
of modern

Ever best production of steel slab : 830463T

Ever best monthly production : 686 heat on March 2015

Highest ever production of high tensile grades in a year : 296888T

Average tundish life in caster no. 6 : 18.3

Caster 6 created a world record : 35 heat in a single tundish

Lowest ever steel defect : 0.9%

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NMI in rail : 0.66% down from per year 1.24%

Cost reduction
1) Average tundish life of slab caster#6 improved from 16.3 heats to
19.1 heats saving 99.5 lakh/year
2) Average life of RH snorkel improved from 119 to 135 heats saving
3.52Cr/year.
3) Implementation of yield enhancement system in tundish in caster#6

due to this skull reduction 10T/Td resulting in saving 2 Cr/year.

LADLE AND LADLE TURRET

Ladle is a large vessel which contain molten metal at the temperature of
1600C. It has capacity of 110 tons. This ladle is carried to the tundish by the
help of ladle turret. Ladle weighing system is installed on each arm of the
turret in order to know net steel weight in the casting procedure. The
earlier lip-poured or the stoppered teeming ladle is replaced by the bottom
poured teeming ladles which has slide gate system. There is hydraulic slide
gate installed on the bottom of the ladle which allow controlled flow of
steel from ladle to tundish. A slag detection system is also installed in the
ladle which detect the slag and give alarm to the operator. Earlier firebrick
lined ladles were used but now it is replaced by the dolomite lined ladles
which effectively control the dissolved oxygen content of the steel.

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The turret is compound of two arms mounted at 180 degree to each other,
each arm is designed to receive ladle and can be independently lifted in
both charging and casting position. It is used to rotate the full ladle from
loading
position to casting position and the empty ladle is moved from casting position to
charging position. An electrically driven motor rotates this turret. The rotation is
achieved with a hydraulic motor which is controlled manually. There also exist an
emergency rotation backup which can be used in case of electric equipment
failure. Each arm of the turret has scale which is used to know the ladle weight.
While rotating as the ladle becomes closer to the casting position its speed is
decreased according to deceleration ramp. The rotation acceleration and
deceleration avoids ladle spills. When the turret arm is on the casting position,
the slide gate is opened and the steel fills the tundish. The ladle shroud is fitted
below ladle slide gate.

TUNDISH

Tundish is a large holding bath through which steel is teemed from ladle to
mould via refractory shroud. The tundish allow a reservoir of metal to feed
the casting machine while ladles are switched, thus acting as a buffer of hot
metal, as well as smoothing out flow, regulating metal flow to mould and
cleaning the metal. It distributes the steel into multiple stream or a buffer in
between the mould and the ladle. Tundish is very essential for sequential
casting to maintain casting continuity. This technology improves the yield.
Tundish is preheated before pouring steel on it. By preheating we minimise
the heat losses from the liquid steel teeming period. Besides this it also
prevent steel from freezing in the nozzle area at the beginning. Tundish
covers are employed to reduce the heat loss. Tundish is preheated by pre
heating burners. Pre-heating burners with low flame intensity is used for 2.5
hours. The slide gate is opened during pre-heating. Coke oven gas is used as
fuel. The exhaust flame temperature trend during pre-heating should be
according to the value

800-850
900-950
1000-1050
1100

in 15 minutes
in 30 minutes
in 45 minutes
in 60 minutes

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There are two tundish car is located at both side of casting floor. The car
transport the tundish from casting position to the parking position and viceversa. At each parking side there is a tundish pre-heating station. In each
tundish car there is a set of load cell to detect the tundish weight. Tundish
steel net weight is used as feedback for tundish level control that is
precondition for an optimal strand mould level control. When tundish
reaches the cast position, automatic procedure will run to tare the system.
Each car is equipped with lifting and lowering system in order to consent
casting tube use and a hydraulic system is provided that allows casting tube
centering inside the mould. Steel tundish measurement system is provided
to measure the steel temperature at tundish during casting procedure. The
temperature at tundish is around 1549c.

The tundish allow steel flow distribution to the strand. Tundish flow is controlled
by the hydraulic slide gate which allow controlled flow of steel from tundish into
the mould. In old caster tundish flow is controlled manually by lowering and
lifting the stopper rod. The vertical position of each tundish is controlled by
operator. Generally tundish position is low at the time of casting and high during
traverse movement. The tundish is equipped with a hydraulic system used to
align the SEN to moulds axis. The forward and reverse motion of the centering
cylinder is manually controlled and the alignment of the SEN over the mould axis
is visually controlled by operators.

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TUNDISH WEIGHING SYSTEM

Each tundish is equipped with weighing system. Each weighing system

consist of: N. 4 load cell (gross weight) and N. 1 weight transmitter. The
tundish transmitter sends gross weight to PLC. Tare weight is recorded
when tundish reaches casting position. After that steel net weight is
obtained by subtracting tundish tare. Net weight of tundish car in casting
position is used for:
Tundish weight control
Strand start signal for correct start process
Strand stop signal for cut optimization function

TREKING OF STEEL INSIDE TUNDISH

We can trek the steel in tundish by means of percentage of new
steel in the tundish.
Percentage of new steel=

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Old steel weight = tundish ladle weight at ladle change steel

weight flowed from mould.
It is used to trek the quantity of steel inside the tundish
in order to detect:
Begin of steel mix steel
End of mix steel
Separation point between two heat
The mix steel is the steel that can be produced when a new ladle is
opened and tundish is already containing steel of previous heat. The
beginning and end mix steel is generated when the percentage of new
steel weight reaches the related threshold set.

SUBMERGED ENTRY NOZZLE

In early machine liquid steel was poured in mould in open air which give rise to
various non- metal inclusions and give rise to various defects due to oxidation of
metals in open atmosphere. This is avoided by the enclosing the teeming area.
Now a days submerged entry nozzle is used for this purpose. This is a ceramic
tube which has a closed bottom. It is connected to tundish at one end and the
other end is dipped in the molten pool in the mould. It has opening in the
sideways, near bottom, to let liquid metal flow in the mould literally. In slab
casting SEN has two openings in opposite direction towards the smaller opposite
walls. While in blooms it may have four opening to distribute the steel uniformly
possibly over entire cross section of the mould. It is preheated before use by coke
oven gas for two hours.

MOULD
Steel is drained from the tundish through SEN to the top of the open base copper
mould. The mould is made up of copper tube or machined out of a solid block or
is a welded plate construction of a high conductivity electrolytic grade copper.
The mould is water cooled to solidify the hot steel directly in contact with it; this
is called the primary cooling process. It has open bottom; hence it is closed by a
dummy plug bar in the beginning. The strand withdrawal begins by withdrawing

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this dummy bar. The length of mould should be such that under the condition of
cooling adequate skin must be formed before the ingot emerges out. The depth
of mould can range from 0.5 to 2 meters. The mould is expected to extract 10% of
the total extractable heat in the machine. In Bhilai Steel Plant, the height of
mould is 900 mm, width is 1450 mm and thickness is 220 mm.
The mould has four walls i.e. loose side, fixed side, right side and left side. All
these four walls oscillate vertically or in a near vertical curved path to prevent the
metal sticking to the mould walls. The mould oscillator is responsible for
oscillating the mould and driven by two hydraulic cylinder. This oscillation also
avoids transverse cracking. The speed of downward to upward stroke is generally
dissimilar and the ratio may vary in the range of 25-50%. If the downward speed is
more than the speed of withdrawal then it leads to negative stripping of the
ingot from mould. If downward speed is even slightly less than that of the rate of
withdrawal major surface cracks are formed. The negative stripping is beneficial
in many ways:
1) The initially crystallized skin of the ingot is further compacted.
2) It prevents formation of tensile stress and even compressive stress may be
developed in the initially solidified skin.
3) It eliminates the possibility of transverse cracking of the ingot skin.
4) It allows maximum rate of withdrawal, i.e. maximum production from a given
machine.

The modern moulds are tapered to narrow down toward the bottom. This
tapering is to accommodate the shrinkage effect on solidification. Besides it
remain in contact with the steel surface and hence effectively extract heat. This
tapper is not straight. It increases downwards because the steel temperature
decreases downwards in the mould and the thermal coefficient of expansion does
not vary linearly with temperature.
In the mould, a thin shell of metal next to the mould walls solidifies before the
middle section called strand which exits the base of the mould into a spray

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chamber. The bulk of the metal within the wall of the strand is still molten. The
strand is immediately supported by closely spaced, water cooled rollers which
support the walls of the strand against the Ferro static pressure of the steelsolidifying liquid within the strand. To increase the rate of solidification the strand
is sprayed with large amount of water as it passes through the spray-chamber,
this is called secondary cooling process. Overall casting speed can be adjusted
solely by altering the amount of metal in the tundish, via the ladle slide gate. The
programmable logic controller (PLC) sets the mould oscillation rate and rate of
mould powder feed, as well as the flow of water in the cooling spray within the
strand.
Breakouts is the major problem in continuous casting of liquid metal. Due to
some reason the solid shell of the strand breaks and allows the still molten metal
contained within to spill out and foul the machine. It usually leads to shut down of
the strand. A breakout is usually due to thin shell wall to support the liquid
column above it, Improper cooling water flow to the mould or the strand cooling
sprays may lead to inadequate heat removal from solidifying metal, which causes
the solid shell to thicken too slowly. If the metal withdrawing rate is high then it
get very little time to get solidify to required thickness even with enhanced
cooling sprays. Sometimes it occurs when shell stick to the wall of mould and
tears.
For a good steel quality, mould level is kept constant during casting. The level in
mould is measured by an electromagnetic sensor, driven by eddy current. The
tundish slide gate is actuated by hydraulic cylinder and the position of slide gate is
acquired by a digital contactless sensor. The mould level detector generates a
position reference for slide gate and the pinch roll speed is automatically
controlled or controlled by operators. The actual speed is acquired by pulse
generator and it is used as reference as to control the oscillator. The mould width
is controlled by four motors connected to spindles and screw jacket linked to
narrow face of the mould. Each pinch roll is lifted and lowered by hydraulic
cylinder. The closing force on the metal is controlled and rotation of roll is
achieved by a set of motors.
The hydraulic oscillator allows the vertical movement of mould during casting.
This movement prevents the sticking of the molten steel to the mould sleeves.
The oscillation is achieved by two hydraulic cylinder each controlled by two servovalve. A dedicate hydraulic unit provide hydraulic power. The movement of

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cylinders impresses an oscillating movement to the mould with desired

frequency, stroke and waveform. The mould must always oscillate during casting,
oscillating the mould at an incorrect frequency or amplitude or with a wrong
curve may cause poor surface quality, effects the consumption of the lubricating
mould powder and may cause breakout.

DUMMY BAR

The dummy bar is used to seal the mould when it is not yet filled with the molten
steel and to derive the slab until it exit from the machine. When dummy bar
terminates its function, it is separated from the slab through disengagement
pusher and then it is recovered by the dummy bar recovery system.
The system consists of:
An electrically driven chain parking device used to transport the D.B. from
the parking position to line of the casting and vice versa.
A centering device before deburring entry that provide an accurate
positioning of the flexible dummy bar above the machine and locks it in
position; this system functions employing of two hydraulic cylinder.
A disconnect system for it disengage the flexible dummy bar from the
medium slab, this system functions employing of the hydraulic cylinder.
A hydraulic alignment device to align the dummy bar before recovering.
A disappearing stop this system functions employing of the air cylinder.

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A photocell to synchronize the tracking during dummy bar introduction and

recovering.
A photocell to slow down the dummy bar before the fixed stopper.

7. DEFECTS
According to the literature, the defect can be defined as any deviation from the
appearance, form, size, macrostructure or chemical properties provided in the
technical standards or other normative documents in force. Defects are detected
at the billets reception, by checking their surface quality on the inspection beds,
or by checking the macrostructure of the test samples. A defect is not always the
result of a single case. Often, the defect is the result of multiple interacting
causes, depending on a variable number of parameters. Similar defects, as
appearance, may have one or more different causes, and apparently different
defects may have one or more common causes. Therefore, there are often found
several defects on the same billet. The defects arising from the steel continuous
casting can be classified as follows: surface defects, internal defects, form defects,
mechanical defects and deviations from the prescribed chemical composition of
steel.
Since this study is about surface defects. Surface defects can be in the form of
crack and depressions.

CRACKS

The cracks are openings found on the billet surface, with variable length and
depth, which sometimes extend on the entire billet, on a strand or even on the
full heat. Cracks forms due to tensile stresses exceeding the yield stress at the
crack location. These stresses may arise due to a variety of reason related to
cooling, stripping, bending, withdrawal rate and tension, surface finish of roller
apron and withdrawal rolls, mould taper, mould wall surface finish, mould
lubrication, reoxidation of steel in open air, and so on. The cracks are not always
straight; they are sometimes interrupted and further continued in zigzag. Taking
into account the direction on which they are formed, the cracks can be
longitudinal, transverse or star types.

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Longitudinal cracks
They form in the direction of extracting the strand from the mould (the bar that
presents this type of defect is integrally rejected). They appear due to:
The unevenly removal of the heat in the mould and, therefore, the uneven
increase of the strand crust, causing transverse tensions that lead to the
strand cracking if the crust is not strong enough (uneven primary cooling).
Turbulent flow of metal and a meniscus level variation in the mould.
Secondary cooling too intense or uneven.
Unequal, advanced wear of the mould that leads to a different thermal
conductivity coefficient.
High casting temperature (failure to obtain the required T).
Great strand extraction speed.
Inappropriate behaviour of the casting powder.

Transverse cracks

These are rarely seen in round profiles they appear due to the tensions on the
longitudinal direction of strand. If they are not deep, they are grinded (deviations

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within the permissible prescribed limits for diameter and ovality). The causes that
give rise to transverse cracks are:
The thermal stresses due to the uneven solidification of the crust and the
additional stress due to turbulent flow in the meniscus.
Meniscus level variation.
Depth of oscillation mark, presence on the bottom of the oscillation mark
of segregations which cool more slowly and weaken the austenitic grain
boundaries.
Friction of the strand in the mould (at higher casting speeds, the melt flow
between the mould wall and crust decreases, the edge friction increases
with the viscosity of the powder used) or in the cylinder segments.

Star cracks

These are very fine, being visible only on scale free surfaces. For removing the
defect, the surfaces are locally grinded (if the cracks are not too deep).
The causes that give rise to star cracks are the intense local cooling, which induce
local tensions, and the presence of copper at the austenitic grain limit. Some
measures to be taken to remedy the star cracks are:
The correct adjustment of the spray nozzle holes and the right correlation
between the spray flow and the casting speed (automatic flow control);

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Providing a uniform layer (film) of melted casting powder between the

strand and the mould;
The cooling of the strand with a moderate intensity when it leaves the
mould, to avoid the increase of the thermal stress and the development of
cracks.

DEPRSSIONS
Depressions are local deformations of the continuous cast strand surface, which
can develop either in the strand drawing direction (longitudinal depressions) or
along the oscillation mark (transverse depressions). Generally, the longitudinal
depressions appear at the round billets made of peritectic carbon steel and have
the appearance of shallow ditches oriented along the strand drawing direction.
Sometimes, this defect is accompanied by the slag resulted from the powder used
in the mould, being known as slag band.

Longitudinal depressions

These can occur due to uneven heat transfer in the mould, which caused due to:
The unequal development of the marginal crust.

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The steel level fluctuation in the mould and a too large quantity of melted
flux, located in the space between the mould wall and the strand.
The turbulent steel flow at the sub-meniscus level.
The uneven and advanced wear of the mould, which results in a different
coefficient of thermal conductivity.
They can be remedied by a slight, uniform and continuous cooling of the strand in
the mould:
By centering the casting jet in the mould.
By controlling the fluctuations of the steel level in the mould, possibly
using a mould with parabolic taper.
By using a powder lubricant with suitable viscosity and melting rate, by
minimizing the turbulence and surface agitation, optimizing the position of
the input nozzle and its support.
And by checking, before or after use, of the degree and uniformity of the
mould wear.

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Transverse Depressions

These are formed in the transverse direction and may cyclically occur in relation
to the strand length. The width of the depressions may cover some oscillation
marks, and the depth can reach several mm. The peritectic steels with low Carbon
percent and high percent of Manganese and the stainless steels are sensitive to
the formation of this type of defect, due to the much larger contractions occurred
during solidification.
The depressions precede the occurrence of the longitudinal shrinkage cracks and
the marginal internal cracks (subcutaneous). The material that presents this type
of defect is locally and cyclically grinded, to check the presence of subcutaneous
fissures. The macro sample is taken. The transverse depressions can be caused by
the steel level fluctuation in the mould, by the too large quantity of melted flux,
located in the space between the mould wall and the strand, and by the turbulent
steel flow at the sub-meniscus level. They can be remedied by controlling the
steel level fluctuation in the mould, by using a mould with parabolic taper, by
using a powder lubricant with suitable viscosity and melting rate, by minimizing
the turbulence and surface agitation, optimizing the position of the input nozzle
and its support.

Blowholes

These are cavities in the outer surface or in the subcutaneous zone of the billet,
located at few tenths of millimetres from the stand surface. They have a diameter

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of 3 mm and a length (depth) that can reach up to 25 mm. usually, they contain
CO, relatively low H2 and Ar, and they are often associated with inclusions.
If they are superficial and/or few, they are grinded (not to exceed the allowed
dimensional tolerance after grinding). They are caused by:
Insufficient steel deoxidation (presence of gases: hydrogen, nitrogen,
oxygen).
Humidity of the casting powder.
Quality of the casting powder (% carbon, viscosity, basicity) - quantity and
uniformity of its distribution.
Variation of the steel level in the mould, existence of moisture in the
refractory lining of the tundish.
The presence of argon entered in the mould during the injection of argon
for filling the nozzle.
The measures to be taken to remedy these defects could be:
Sufficient deoxidation of steel by using dry materials and additives,
protection of ladle and tundish.
Use of dry casting powder (and preheated, if possible).
Possibly choosing a casting powder compatible with the steel grade,
temperature and casting speed (and, of course, a good correlation between
the casting power quantity and the casting speed).
Controlling the steel level fluctuations in the mould, to prevent the steel to
flow over the casting powder and to embed it, controlling the nozzle
immersion depth, use of nozzles free of defects.
Avoiding the high casting temperatures.
Maintaining the argon debit below the critical value, to avoid the capture of
argon bubbles by the meniscus and the development of slag foaming
around the nozzle .

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Interruptions in the Physical Continuity of the Casting

This defect is caused by a short interruption of the casting process, and it can be
removed by shortening the bar that contains it. This defect occurs due to sudden
changes in casting speed, caused by the variations of steel temperature in the
tundish, by the variations of steel level in the mould, or by the variations of
casting mode. The main remedial measure is to maintain a constant casting
speed, by providing a narrow range of temperature variation in the tundish, by
maintaining the steel level in the tundish within the prescribed limits and by using
the casting automatic mode.

Shrinkage cavity
This represents a gap of material, visible in the cross section at the end of a bar. It
can be removed by cutting the end of the bar, and the defective portion is
rejected. The causes that produce this defect are: high casting temperature, high
extraction speed and intense secondary cooling.
The measures taken to remedy this type of defect are:
Maintaining the T within the established limits.
A good correlation between the casting speed, T and the cooling regime.
Reduction of the casting speed, reduction of the cooling intensity,
maintaining the water flow at the established minimum limit.

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8. CONTROL PARAMETERS

During this project some parameters were studied. Variations in these parameters
can possibly lead to longitudinal crack which is the aim of this project to find the
cause of LC. Data of these parameters for defective and nearby non-defective
slabs were taken and compared. These parameters are as follows:-

A. Temperature gradient (T)

This is the temperature difference between inlet and outlet water. In the
continuous casting water is continuously injected on the surface of copper mould
for primary cooling of metal as well as mould surface. Some part of sensitive heat
of metal passes into water and water gets heats and a rise in its temperature is
observed. This temperature difference is measured during the process.
Temperature gradient for four sides of mould (fix, loose, right, left) was taken for
defective and non-defective slabs.

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B. Heat extraction
A part of sensitive heat of metal is by water. First temperature difference between
inlet and outlet water is measured and this is multiplied by specific heat capacity of
water to get amount of heat extracted. Any anomaly in heat extraction can be the
reason of LC. Heat extraction from four sides of mould (fix, loose, right, left) was
taken for defective and nearby non-defective slabs. Ideally heat extraction from
loose and fix side should be same. Same is in case of right and left side.

C. Casting speed
This is the speed at which slabs are being withdrawn from mould. This is
measured in meter per minute which means how many meters of slab are being
withdrawn from mould in a minute. This is also a function of heat extraction
efficiency which in turn depends on the size of cross section as well.

D. Oscillation
Mould always keep on oscillating during casting to prevent any sticking of metal
on mould inner surface. For this two hydraulic cylinder are provided which
oscillates mould and frequency of this oscillation is measured which an important
parameter in continuous casting. Frequency of right cylinder upward, right
cylinder downward, left cylinder upward and left cylinder downward was taken
for defective slab and nearby non-defective slabs.

E. Mould Taper
Improper Mould Taper leads to the air gap between the mould and the strand
which affects the heat transfer between the mould and the strand. This generates
cracks on the strand on further cooling.

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F. Sticking
During sticking , mould sticks to the strand . sometimes during the oscillation,
whenever the mould moves up with the strand sticking to mould leds to the
cracking in the strand.

9.Procedure And Observation

For the analysis , we are looking for various data using which we can find out
various improper variations taking place in the casting operation and by analyzing
them we can find out the causes of the defects.
The various data we are looking for the analysis includes: Strand speed
Mould level
Mould Oscillation
Mould Heat Transfer Rate
Mix Ladle Change
Super Heat
Following sheet represents the data related to the above factors:-

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10.Analysis And Conclusion

For finding the causes of variation in the parameters, we are comparing the
superheat of normal and the defective heats.
By taking two similar super heat values , we can compare the other parameters
of these two heats which includes factors like heat transfer rate ,oscillation
casting speed.
Here we are using same colour for the two heat numbers which we are going to
compare to check the variations in the similar parameters which will reflect the
reason for the crack formation.

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a. In Heat no. B206928 and B207136 (displayed in blue boxes) shows almost
same superheat but there is a much variation in the heat transfer rate and
the movement of cylinder in defective heat as compared to normal heat.
This can be considered to be a reason for crack formation.
b. In Heat no. B206971 and B207196,These both heats are defective but there
is vast deviation in the mould level and major rise in mould heat transfer
rate which can be considered to be a reason for crack generation.
c. In the Heat no. B207201 and B207139(displayed in green boxes) shows a
large difference between the heat change rate of fixed and loose sides of
defective heat as compared to normal heat. Possibly, This might be the
reason for the crack formation.
d. On comparing heat no. B207918 and B207331,it is clear that there is a
slight difference in the mould oscillation and a improper heat transfer from
mould in the loose and the left side as compared to the normal values and
these two types of variations can definitely leads to crack generation.
e. On comparing Heat no. B207944 and B207326,A slight variation in the
mould oscillation was observed along with the large variation in mould
heat transfer in case of defective heat was found as compared to normal
heat which can be considered to be the reason for crack generation.
f. In Heat no. B207867,SEN was also changed leading to the variation in the
mould level which may result into crack formation.
g. In Heat no. B207946 , Laddle and tundish both were changed during the
casting operation leading to the production of crack.
From the above analysis, we can conclude that improper heat change rate is the
dominating factor for the crack formation. Also factors like mould level
fluctuation and the lack of resonance during oscillation results into defects.

Controlling these factors will help us in minimizing the defects produced

during continuous casting.