Since thin slab caster has been commercially applied to the steel making process in U.S.A, much attention has been paid to the technology of thin slab casting. Kawasaki Steel Co.LTD has developed a twin belt type thin slab caster of its own design as a joint project with Hitachi LTD. Key techniques required for the development are as follows: (1) The use of a high speed water film cooling system for travelling belt. (2) Progressive reduction in mold thickness along casting direction to apply conventional teeming system. After the development of the laboratory scale prototype caster, A commercial size caster termed KH caster was installed to establish stable casting techniques and to examine the qualities of the cast and rolled products. Casting experiments of more than 130 heats made it clear that 30mm thickness and 800 to 1000mm width slabs were able to cast stably 50ton per heat with satisfaction. The thin slabs were coiled and were directly hot rolled without reheating. Qualities of sheet products showed good mechanial properties comparable to those of conventional products.
展开▼
