In the belt/roll process for strip casting the liquid steel is cast on a moving belt. The lower surface of the steel layer solidifies in contact with the water cooled belt while the top surface is free or is in contact with a top roll. The process has the following possible advantages over other competitive processes for near net shape casting: - steel feeding is facilitated because the belt is accessible from both the front and from above, - the lack of friction between strand and belt combined with cooling and support over a long strand length enables high casting velocities and therefore high productivity. The belt/roll process has been investigated with a pilot caster producing steel strip of 5 to 10 mm thickness and 150 mm width. In this paper the details of the caster are explained. The history of development work is described and the present state of the process including first results on the material properties are given.
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