Title

ACHIEVING BOTH HIGH QUALITY AND HIGH PRODUCTION RATES ON COMBINATION CASTING MACHINES AT MAANSHAN, P.R.C AND STEEL DYNAMICS INC., USA

ACHIEVING BOTH HIGH QUALITY AND HIGH PRODUCTION RATES ON COMBINATION CASTING MACHINES AT MAANSHAN, P.R.C AND STEEL DYNAMICS INC., USA

Authorship

Ponikvar, Philip E.

Ponikvar, Philip E.

I am this author

DOI

10.5151/2594-5300-0016

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Abstract

Over the last few years, combination bloom/beam blank three-strand casting machines have been successfully commissioned by SMS Demag Inc. at Maanshan Iron & Steel Co., Maanshan, PRC, and at Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) in Columbia City, Indiana, USA. At Maanshan, which was the first casting machine capable of producing beam blanks in Mainland China, annual production rates have surpassed anticipated levels by over 40%. The design of the casting machine equipment allowed for the capability to produce silicon-killed structural grades by open pouring via metering nozzles from the tundish to the mold as well as the utilization of submerged pouring from the tundish to the mold via stopper rods and submerged entry nozzles for high quality aluminum-killed steel grades. This machine design afforded Maanshan the flexibility in casting machine set-up to expeditiously adjust to dynamic market conditions. At Steel Dynamics Inc., the casting machine was designed to produce one bloom size and four beam blank sizes for processing through their heavy section mill into wide flange beam products. Originally, all structural products cast at SDI were silicon-killed steel grades and were open poured via metering nozzles. Although the emphasis by SDI was on the structural market, their long term goal was to become a major player in the production of high quality rails. Therefore, during the proposal and design phase of this project, no machine component design was compromised in order to insure that a high quality product would be produced on this casting machine. This production of high quality products was not only achieved in the structural products cast at SDI but since April 2003, SDI has been successfully producing high quality rails cast from a second bloom size with submerged pouring from the tundish to the mold with steel flow controlled via stopper rods. These novel types of casting machine designs allow these two facilities to efficiently produce whatever the order book dictates. This paper will explain how these two casting machines combine all of the features necessary to promote high quality, high productivity, and high machine utilization rates.

Over the last few years, combination bloom/beam blank three-strand casting machines have been successfully commissioned by SMS Demag Inc. at Maanshan Iron & Steel Co., Maanshan, PRC, and at Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) in Columbia City, Indiana, USA. At Maanshan, which was the first casting machine capable of producing beam blanks in Mainland China, annual production rates have surpassed anticipated levels by over 40%. The design of the casting machine equipment allowed for the capability to produce silicon-killed structural grades by open pouring via metering nozzles from the tundish to the mold as well as the utilization of submerged pouring from the tundish to the mold via stopper rods and submerged entry nozzles for high quality aluminum-killed steel grades. This machine design afforded Maanshan the flexibility in casting machine set-up to expeditiously adjust to dynamic market conditions. At Steel Dynamics Inc., the casting machine was designed to produce one bloom size and four beam blank sizes for processing through their heavy section mill into wide flange beam products. Originally, all structural products cast at SDI were silicon-killed steel grades and were open poured via metering nozzles. Although the emphasis by SDI was on the structural market, their long term goal was to become a major player in the production of high quality rails. Therefore, during the proposal and design phase of this project, no machine component design was compromised in order to insure that a high quality product would be produced on this casting machine. This production of high quality products was not only achieved in the structural products cast at SDI but since April 2003, SDI has been successfully producing high quality rails cast from a second bloom size with submerged pouring from the tundish to the mold with steel flow controlled via stopper rods. These novel types of casting machine designs allow these two facilities to efficiently produce whatever the order book dictates. This paper will explain how these two casting machines combine all of the features necessary to promote high quality, high productivity, and high machine utilization rates.

Keywords

Combination bloom/beam blank, open pouring, submerged pouring

Combination bloom/beam blank, open pouring, submerged pouring