Discovery - The cornerstone of research in continuous casting of steel billets

摘要

It was in the early seventies that research on the continuous casting of steel began to flourish worldwide. Brimacombe and co-workers were among the first to undertake work in this new field, conducting some of the best research. Seizing the opportunities of the day, namely the availability of digital computational capability, Brimacombe laid the foundation for process engineering research in general, and continuous casting in particular, by demonstrating the power of applying mathematical models in conjunction with measurements to analyse and advance this relatively new technology - continuous casting of steel. Through this framework many critical discoveries were made that clarified the influence of mould and spray design and operation on quality in the continuous casting of steel. This paper traces the key discoveries, with the objective of establishing the importance of the framework, and also of the nature of the research programs, in fostering the process. Major improvements to the process and billet quality have resulted from serendipitous discoveries on the links between mould behaviour and quality. Given the diminishing efforts of steel companies in basic research, universities have an important role to play in redefining the framework for research in this field and for providing leadership in the development of research programs that will lead to new discoveries in continuous casting.