Historical Review of Continuous Casting

Year

Event and Development

Inventor/Developer

1840

First patent granted for continuous casting lead tubing

G.E. Sellers (U.S.A.)

1843

Patent granted for continuous casting of lead tubing which recognized the necessity of moving the mandrel to prevent adhesion of the cast material

U. Lang (U.S.A.)

1846

Patent for the production of tin foil and sheet lead, and experimental production of sheet glass using water‑cooled rotating rolls

H. Bessemer (England)

1856

Continuous casting of malleable iron using rotating rolls announced and patent granted

H. Bessemer (England)

1872

Concept of continuous casting with moving molds

W. Wilkinson and E. Taylor (England)

1886

Basic principles of vertical casting of steel Production unit reported in operation until 1910.

B. Athea (U.S.A.)

1889

Vertical‑type casting machine designed similar to those currently in operation

M. Daelen (Germany)

1912

Advantages of mold oscillation in the direction of the strand recognized with horizontal casting

(A. H. Pehrson, Sweden)

1915

Automatic control of metal flow into mold depending on metal level in mold considered

G. Mellan

1921

Continuous relative motion between strand and mold proposed

(C. W. van Ranst)

1933

Nonharmonic mold oscillation proposed, which would not influence heat transfer between the solidifying section/mold. First industrial continuous casting plant built for the production of brass sections. The facility embodied a vertical design with an open‑ended mold and had a production rate of 1700 metric tons/month.

S. Junghans (Germany)

1935

Brass plates continuously cast by using casting rolls

Scovill Manufacturing Co. (USA.).

1938

Semi‑horizontal machine built for the casting of steel based on the Goldobin principle of moving molds

USSR

1943

Early pilot plant for casting steel

Junghans (Germany)

1946/
1947

Pilot plants for casting steel installed by various countries. Melting capacity varied from 200 lb to approximately 7.5 metric tons.

USA, England, Austria and Japan

1951

First slab caster for the production of stainless steel installed with the section sizes up to 800 mm x 180 mm (32 in. x 7 in.) and a rated capacity of 36 000 metric tons/year

Krashy Oktubri (USSR)

1952

First billet caster for the production of carbon and low alloy steel brought into operation. Initially a single‑strand machine for casting 50 to 100‑mm sq. billets. Twin strand operation started in 1958.

Barrow (England)

1952

Patent issued describing a curved casting machine

(O. Schaeber (Germany)

1952

First electromagnetic stirrer designed for continuous casting at Mannesmann.

Junghans and Schaeber (Germany)

1954

First slab caster for the production of stainless steel slabs in North America started upSlabs up to 622 mm x 165 mm (24 1/2 in. x 6 Y2 in.) were cast from 27.3 and 45.5 metric‑ton heats (30 and 50 net ton).

Atlas Steels (Canada)

1954

First 4‑strand unit installed for casting rounds (Production status not achieved until 1973).

Mannesmann (Germany)

1956

Cutting strands to length in the horizontal position following bending instead of in the vertical permitted a significant reduction in the height of the casting machine

Barrow (England).

1956

Patent filed for a curved mold

E. Schneckenburger and C. Kung (Switzerland)

1958

First 8‑strand billet caster installed

Societa per l'Industria a I'Elettricita (Italy)

1961

Start‑up of first large vertical‑type slab casting machine with bending of the strand for a horizontal discharge. The single‑strand machine casts large low carbon steel slabs up to 1520 mm x 200 mm (60 in. x 8 in.) from 30 metric‑ton (33 net‑ton) hems. ????

Dillinger Steelworks (West Germany)

1963

Start‑up of first curved mold billet caster

Von Moos' Eisenwerke (Switzerland)

1963

A world survey indicated a total of 61 machines in operation with 44 under construction.

1964

First new steelworks which depended 100 percent on continuous casting brought on stream. Casting facilities consisted of four machines (11 strands total) which produced medium to large carbon and low alloy blooms from 140 mm (.5 '/2 in.) sq. to 622 mm x 432 mm (24 Y2 in. x 17 in.) as well as slabs from 56 metric‑ton (62 net‑toti) heat

Shelton Iron and Steel (England)

1964

Start‑up of the first curved mold machine for large slabs, up to 1600 x 250 mm (63 x 9.8 in.). This design permitted a 50 percent reduction in machine height in comparison with a vertical‑type machine.

Dillinger Steelworks (West Germany)

1965

Production casting of rounds on a 4‑strand machine

Eschweiler Bergwerks (Germany).

1967

High productivity slab caster with in‑line rolling to change slab widths at a capacity of 1.5 million metric tons (1.65 million net tons) per year.

U.S. Steel's Gary Works (USA)

1968

First 4‑strand slab caster with curved mold installed in North America

National Steel's Weirton Division for tinplate applications

1968/
1969

Four slab casters placed in operation with combined annual capacity of 2.2 trillion metric tons (2.4 million net tons).

McLouth Steel

1968/
1969

First continuous centrifugal caster

Vallourec and Creusot‑Loire (France).