Lubrication and friction between the mould and strand are strongly influenced by mould oscillation, and play an important role in slab quality and operating safety during continuous casting processes. Investigation of mould oscillation is therefore essential for getting a better online control of the mould processes. A feasible approach for the development and optimization of mould oscillation was put forward, which combined online measurement of mould friction, design of negative oscillating parameters and evaluation for powder consumption. Three different control models including sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal oscillation for mould oscillations were developed to investigate and evaluate the effects of oscillation on mould friction and powder lubrication. For the purpose of investigating mould friction between mould and strand, online measurement was carried out on a slab continuous caster equipped with a hydraulic oscillator. Also the comparison of the mould friction in sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal mould oscillation was made for subsequent analysis. The industrial experiment result shows that the combination of inverse control model and non-sinusoidal oscillation mode will contribute to the proper powder consumption, leading to a suitable effect of friction force on strand surface, especially for high speed continuous casting. The proposed method provides reliable basis for guiding and optimizing mould oscillation among control models, sinusoidal oscillation and non-sinusoidal oscillation.
WANG Xu-dongYAO ManZHANG LiZHANG Xiao-bingCHEN Shao-hui
The distortion of mold plates plays an important role in the formation of surface cracks on continuously cast steel products. To investigate the non-uniform distortion of a mold, a full-scale stress model of the mold was de veloped. An inverse algorithm was applied to calculate the heat flux using the temperatures measured by the thermo- couples buried inside the mold plates. Based on this, a full-scale, finite-element stress model, including four copper plates, a nickel layer and water slots in different depths, was built to determine the complex mechanical behavior of the continuous casting mold used to produce steel slabs. The heat flux calculated by the inverse algorithm was applied to the stress model to analyze the non-uniform mechanical behavior. The results showed that the stress and distortion distributions of the four copper plates were not symmetrical, which reflected the non-uniform distortion behaviors of copper plates, water slots, nickel layer and the corner region of the mold. The gap between the mold and the slab was increased because of the corner distortion, which was very important for the heat transfer of initial solidifying shell, and it may be a major reason for the slow cooling of the slab corner.
