Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D11/00—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths
  • B22D11/04—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths into open-ended moulds
  • B22D11/057—Manufacturing or calibrating the moulds
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22C—FOUNDRY MOULDING
  • B22C9/00—Moulds or cores; Moulding processes
  • B22C9/22—Moulds for peculiarly-shaped castings
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22C—FOUNDRY MOULDING
  • B22C9/00—Moulds or cores; Moulding processes
  • B22C9/06—Permanent moulds for shaped castings
  • B22C9/061—Materials which make up the mould
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D11/00—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths
  • B22D11/009—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths of work of special cross-section, e.g. I-beams, U-profiles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D11/00—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths
  • B22D11/04—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths into open-ended moulds
  • B22D11/041—Continuous casting of metals, i.e. casting in indefinite lengths into open-ended moulds for vertical casting

Definitions

• the invention is related to the field of continuous casting, and in particular to a tube structure that can be used in a continuous casting process.
• Continuous casting is a process that transforms molten metal into solid on a continuous basis and includes a variety of important commercial processes. These processes are the most efficient way to solidify large volumes of metal into simple shapes for subsequent processing. Most basic metals are mass-produced using a continuous casting process, including over 1 Billion tons of steel, 20 million tons of aluminum, and 1 million tons of copper, nickel, and other metals in the world each year.
• Continuous casting is distinguished from other solidification processes by its steady state nature, relative to an outside observer in a laboratory frame of reference.
• the molten metal solidifies against the mold walls while it is simultaneously withdrawn from the bottom of the mold at a rate which maintains the solid / liquid interface at a constant position with time. The process works best when all of its aspects operate in this steady- state manner.
• continuous casting generally has a higher capital cost, but lower operating cost. It is the most cost- and energy- efficient method to mass-produce semi- finished metal products with consistent quality in a variety of sizes and shapes.
• Cross- sections can be rectangular, for subsequent rolling into plate or sheet, square, rectangular or circular for long products, and even "dog-bone” shapes, for rolling into I or H beams.
• a mold for use in a continuous caster includes a tubular quadrilateral structure having four walls joined at four corners. Each of the walls have inner and outer faces configured to provide the walls with reduced thicknesses centrally located between the corners.
• a mold for use in a continuous caster includes a tubular structure having a plurality of wall structures. Each of the outer faces of the wall structures is configured to have reduced thicknesses centrally located between corners of the wall structures so as to provide rigidity to the tubular structure for handling thermal loads during a continuous casting process.
• a method of producing a mold for use in a caster includes providing a tubular structure that includes a plurality of wall structures. Also, the method includes arranging each of the outer faces of the wall structures to have reduced thicknesses centrally located between corners of the wall structures so as to provide rigidity to the tubular structure for handling thermal loads during a continuous casting process.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a tubular casting mold used in a continuous casting process
• FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the tubular casting mold having an outer face shaped in a concave configuration using an arc;
• FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the tubular casting mold having an outer face shaped in a concave configuration using an ellipse sector;
• FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the tubular casting mold having an outer face shaped in a concave configuration using an hexagon or octagon sector;
• FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the tubular casting mold having single plates; and FIGs. 6A-6B are schematic diagrams illustrating the side and cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the tubular casting mold where the concave configuration is applied in a particular region of the mold length.
• the invention provides a novel design for a tubular casting mold used in a continuous casting process.
• the tubular casting mold includes externally on each side a concave configuration that is shaped by arch or by other geometrical shapes.
• Each side of the tubular structure acts as very rigid bridge or tunnel configuration withstanding high thermal loads without permanent deformations.
• FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a tubular casting mold 2 used in a continuous casting process.
• the tubular casting mold is made of copper or similar materials and includes 4 walls joined at four corners 6.
• the tubular structure can be a tubular quadrilateral in other embodiments of the invention.
• Each of the walls 4 having an inner 8 and outer faces 10 configured to provide the walls 4 with reduced thickness 12 centrally located between the corners 6.
• the outer faces have a concave configuration while the corners 6 have a defined reduced thicknesses centrally located between corners 6 of the walls 4.
• the extension 14 of the concave shape is selected to optimally provide rigidity to the tubular casting moid 2 for handling thermal loads during casting.
• the inner faces 8 can include any defined shape, such as a rectangular, square, or parallelogram.
• the tubular casting mold can be comprised of copper or other similar materials.
• the thinner outer faces 10 are possible due to the rigid concave configuration.
• the thinner outer faces 10 are thinner relative to the corners 6. This way temperature of an outer face 10 is decreased considerably, reducing as a consequence the permanent deformation, the wearing, and cracking sensitivity of the tube, as an example.
• the concave configuration can be formed using other geometrical shapes.
• FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the tubular casting mold 18 used in a continuous casting process having an outer face 20 shaped in a concave configuration using an arc.
• the arc includes a single radius .
• FIG. 3 an embodiment of the tubular casting mold 24 used in a continuous casting process having an outer face 26 shaped in a concave configuration using an ellipse sector 28.
• FIG. 4 an embodiment of the tubular casting mold 30 used in a continuous casting process having an outer face 32 shaped in a concave configuration using part of a hexagon or an octagon.
• FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the tubular casting mold having single plates.
• the plates 40-46 are coupled together to form wall structures.
• the plates both have inner 48 and outer 50 faces and form a concave configuration as described herein on their outer faces 50.
• the plates can include materials such as copper or copper alloy, metals, or the like.
• the plates could be connected by bolts on the comers or similar methods or by an external steel sleeve that keep the plates tight together.
• FIGs. 6A-6B are schematic diagrams illustrating the side and cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the tubular casting mold 56 where the concave configuration is applied in a particular region of the mold length.
• the mold includes a concave configuration in a region 58 of the mold 56 length that includes its meniscus area 60 where the thermal load are maximum.
• the concave configure is only applicable for the meniscus area 60 while the rest of the mold 56 will have a conventional design. Note other regions on the mold length can be used to form a concave configuration.
• inventive tubular casting mold design described herein intends to provide an appearance similar to a conventional tubular casting mold but the enhanced rigidity and low temperatures are the key fundamental features distinguishing the inventive tubular casting mold.
• the manufacturing costs of the inventive design are low as compared to a conventional tube because there is no need for any additional operation of machining during the manufacturing process.
• the manufacturing of the inventive design may be accomplished by extrusion of copper or hydroforming.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Continuous Casting (AREA)

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Publications (3)

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Citations (4)

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• 2015
  • 2015-07-28 US US14/811,036 patent/US20170028462A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2016
  • 2016-07-25 ES ES16745387T patent/ES3043233T3/es active Active
  • 2016-07-25 EP EP16745387.7A patent/EP3328575B1/de active Active
  • 2016-07-25 WO PCT/US2016/043820 patent/WO2017019586A1/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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