Abstract
In both continuous casting of steel slabs and direct chill (DC) casting of aluminum alloy ingots, water is used to cool the mold in the initial stages of solidification, and then below the mold, where it is in direct contact with the newly solidified surface of the metal. Water cooling affects the product quality by (1) controlling the heat removal rate that creates and cools the solid shell and (2) generating thermal stresses and strains inside the solidified metal. This work reviews the current state-of-the-art in water cooling for both processes, and draws insights by comparing and contrasting the different practices used in each process. The heat extraction coefficient during secondary cooling depends greatly on the surface temperature of the ingot, as represented by boiling water-cooling curves. Thus, the heat extraction rate varies dramatically with time, as the slab/ingot surface temperature changes. Sudden fluctuations in the temperature gradients within the solidifying metal cause thermal stresses, which often lead to cracks, especially near the solidification front, where even small tensile stresses can form hot tears. Hence, a tight control of spray cooling for steel, and practices such as CO2 injection/pulse water cooling for aluminum, are now used to avoid sudden changes in the strand surface temperature. The goal in each process is to match the rate of heat removal at the surface with the internal supply of latent and sensible heat, in order to lower the metal surface temperature monotonically, until cooling is complete.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. Li and B.G. Thomas: Proceedings of the Brimacombe Memorial Symposium, Vancouver, BC, Oct 1–4, 2000, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2000, pp. 595–611.
J. Sengupta, S. Cockcroft, D. Maijer, M. Wells, and A. Larouche: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2004, vol. 35B, pp. 523–40.
J.F. Grandfield and P.T. McGlade: Mater. Forum, 1996, vol. 20, pp. 29–51.
B.G. Thomas: in The Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, Volume II, eds., K.H.J. Buschow, R. Cahn, M. Flemings, B. Ilschner, E.J. Kramer, S. Mahajan, (D. Aeplian, subject ed.) Elsevier Science Ltd., Oxford, UK, 2001, pp. 1595–1599; online http://www.elsevier.com/mrwclus/15/show/Main.htt
J. Sengupta: Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 2002.
J.B. Wiskel: Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1996.
E.K. Jensen: Light Metals 1980, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1980, pp. 631–42.
W.K.J. Jones, D. Xu, J.W. Evans, and D.P. Cook: Light Metals 1999, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1999, pp. 841–45.
J.R. Davis: ASM Specialty Handbook: Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys, ASM INTERNATIONAL, Materials Park, OH, 1994.
P.W. Baker and P.T. McGlade: in Light Metals 2001, J.L. Anjier, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2001, pp. 855–62.
X. Huang, B.G. Thomas, and F.M. Najjar: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1992, vol. 23B, pp. 339–56.
W. Droste and W. Schneider: in Light Metals 1991, E.L. Rooy, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1991, pp. 945–51.
J. Sengupta, S. Cockcroft, D. Maijer, M. Wells, and A. Larouche: J. Light Met., 2002, vol. 2 (3), pp. 137–48.
J.-M. Drezet and M. Rappaz: Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 1996, vol. 27A, pp. 3214–24.
J.K. Brimacombe, I.V. Samarasekera, and J.E. Lait: in Continuous Casting Vol. II: Heat Flow, Solidification and Crack Formation, Ed. J.K. Brimacombe, I.V. Samarasekera, and J.E. Lait, ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1984, pp. 1–8.
S.C. Flood, P.A. Davidson, and S. Rogers: in Modeling of Casting, Welding and Advanced Solidification Processes VII, M. Cross and J. Campbell, eds., The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, Warrendale, PA, 1995, 801–10.
M. Zheng and L. Katgerman: in Proceedings of the 22nd Risø International Symposium on Materials Science, Roskilde, Denmark, A.R. Dinesen, M. Eldrup, D. Juul Jensen, and S. Linderoth, eds., 2001, Risø International Laboratory, Denmark, pp. 455–60.
M. Trovant and S. Argyropoulos: in Light Metals 1997, R. Huglen, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1997, pp. 927–31.
Y. Meng and B.G. Thomas: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2003, vol. 34B, pp. 707–25.
J. Birat, M. Larrecq, J. Lamant, and J. Petegnief: in Mold Operation for Quality and Productivity, A.W. Cramb and E. Szekeres, eds., ISS, Warrendale, PA, 1991, pp. 3–14.
M.A. Wells, D. Li, and S.L. Cockcroft: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2000, vol. 32B, pp. 929–39.
R.B. Mahapatra, J.K. Brimacombe, and I.V. Samarasekera: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1991, vol. 22B, pp. 875–88.
B.G. Thomas, D. Lui, and B. Ho: in Sensors and Modeling in Materials Processing: Techniques and Applications, Proceedings of the TMS Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, Feb 9–13, 1997, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1997, pp. 117–42.
I.V. Samarasekera and J.K. Brimacombe: Can. Metall. Q., 1979, vol. 18, pp. 251–66.
Y. Meng and B.G. Thomas: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2003, vol. 34B, pp. 685–705.
H. Bai and B.G. Thomas: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2001, vol. 32B, pp. 269–84.
B.G. Thomas and S.P. Vanka: NSF Design, Service, Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Research Conf., Puerto Rico, 2002.
S. Engler, W. Schmitz, M.S. Ji, and A. Weiss: in Proceedings of Symposium on Advances in Continuous Casting and Research Technology, Cairo, Egypt, 1992, Abington Publishing, UK, 1992, 192–204.
G. Gruen, A. Buchholz, and D. Mortensen: Light Metals 2000, R.D. Peterson, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2000, pp. 573–78.
B.G. Thomas, A. Moitra, and R. McDavid: Iron and Steelmaker (USA), 1996, vol. 23 (4), pp. 57–70.
M.M. Wolf: BHM 2000, 2000, vol. 145 (7), pp. 270–75.
R. Bommaraju, J.K. Brimacombe, and I.V. Samarasekera: ISS Trans., 1984, pp. 95–105.
B.G. Thomas: Iron & Steelmaker (ISS Trans.), vol 16 (12), 1989, 53–66.
B.G. Thomas: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2002, vol. 33B, pp. 795–812.
J.K. Brimacombe and K. Sorimachi: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1977, vol. 8B, pp. 489–505.
J.K. Brimacombe, F. Weinberg, and E.B. Hawbolt: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1979, vol. 10B, pp. 279–92.
J.M. Drezet, A. Bughardt, H.G. Fjaer, and B. Magnin: Mater. Sci. Forum, 2000, vol. 329–330, pp. 493–500.
W. Schneider and W. Reif: in Proceedings of Symposium on Advances in Continuous Casting and Research Technology, Cairo, Egypt, 1992, Abington Publishing, UK, 1992, 173–90.
D.C. Weckman and P. Niessen: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1982, vol. 13B, pp. 593–602.
K. Ho and R.D. Pehlke: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1985, vol. 16B, pp. 585–94.
Y. Nishida, W. Droste, and E. Engler: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1989, vol. 17B, pp. 833–44.
A.A. Nofal: in Proceedings of Symposium on Advances in Continuous Casting and Research Technology, Cairo, Egypt, 1992, Abington Publishing, UK, 1992, 205–18.
R. Mitamura, T. Ito, Y. Takahashi, and T. Hiraoka: in Light Metals 1998, R. Huglen, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1978, pp. 281–91.
J.-M. Drezet: Ph.D. Thesis, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Laussane, Switzerland, 1996.
R.A. Hardin, K. Liu, A. Kapoor, and C. Beckermann: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2003, vol. 34B, pp. 297–306.
L. Yu: Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 1996.
H.M. Tansi and G.E. Totten: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Quenching and Control of Distortion, Prague, Czech Republic, 1999, 50–61.
J.K. Brimacombe, P.K. Agarwal, S. Hibbins, B. Prabhakar, and L.A. Baptista: in Continuous Casting Vol. II: Heat Flow, Solidification and Crack Formation, J.K. Brimacombe, I.V. Samarasekera, and J.E. Lait, eds., ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1984, pp. 109–23.
L.C. Burmeister: Convective Heat Transfer, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1983, pp. 567–77.
A. Larouche, Y. Caron, and D. Kocaefe: in Light Metals 1998, B. Welch, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1998, pp. 1059–64.
G.P. Grealy, J.L. Davis, E.K. Jensen, P.A. Tondel, and J. Moritz: in Light Metals 2001, J.L. Anjier, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2001, pp. 813–21.
W. Droste, J.-M. Drezet, G.-U. Grun, and W. Schneider: in Continuous Casting, K. Ehrke and W. Schneider, eds., Wiley-VCH, New York, NY, 2000, pp. 177–83.
J. Sengupta, D. Maijer, M.A. Wells, S.L. Cockcroft, and A. Larouche: in Light Metals 2001, J.L. Anjier, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2001, pp. 879–85.
B.G. Thomas, J.K. Brimacombe, and I.V. Samarasekera: Trans. Iron Steel Soc., 1986, vol. 7, pp. 7–20.
J. Du, B.S.-J. Kang, K.-M. Chang, and J. Harris: in Light Metals 1998, B. Welch, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1998, pp. 1025–29.
L.J. Colley: Master’s Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 2003.
J.K. Brimacombe: in Continuous Casting Vol. II: Heat Flow, Solidification and Crack Formation, J.K. Brimacombe, I.V. Samarasekera, and J.E. Lait, eds., ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1984, pp. 199–214.
J.E. Jacoby: 5th Australasian Asian Pacific Conference on Aluminum Cast House Technology, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1997, 245–51.
J.B. Wiskel and S.L. Cockcroft: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1996, vol. 27B, pp. 129–37.
C.A. Sleicher and M.W. Rousse: Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 1975, vol. 18 (5), pp. 677–83.
F.W. Dittus and L.M.K. Boelter: Univ. California Public. Eng., 1930, No. 2, pp. 443–61.
L.C. Burmeister: Convective Heat Transfer, 1st ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1983.
M. Mitsutsuka: Tetsu-to-Hagané, 1968, vol. 54, pp. 1457–71.
M. Shimada and M. Mitsutsuka: Tetsu-to-Hagané, 1966, vol. 52, p. 1643.
E. Mizikar: Iron Steel Eng., 1970, vol. 47, pp. 53–60.
R. Alberny, A. Leclerq, and J. Basilis: Circulaire d’Informatio-techniques, vol. 3 (315), 1973, 763–76.
T. Nozaki, J. Matsuno, K. Murata, H. Ooi, and M. Kodama: Trans. Iron Steel Inst. Jpn., 1978, vol. 18, pp. 330–38.
E. Bolle and J.C. Moureau: Int. Conf. on Heat and Mass Transfer Metallurgical Processes, (Yugoslavia), McGraw-Hill, NY, 1979, 304–06.
H. Kraushaar, R. Jeschar, V. Heidt, E.K. Jensen, and W. Schneider: in Light Metals 1995, J. Evans, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 1055–59.
J. Langlais, T. Bourgeois, Y. Caron, G. Beland, and D. Bernard: Light Metals 1995, J. Evans, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 979–86.
L. Maenner, B. Magnin, and Y. Caratini: Light Metals 1997, R. Huglen, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1997, pp. 701–07.
A. Larouche, J. Langlais, T. Bourgeois, and A. Gendron: in Light Metals 1999, M. Bouchard and A. Faucher, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1999, pp. 235–45.
I.J. Opstelten and J.M. Rabenberg: Light Metals 1999, C.E. Eckert, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1999, pp. 729–35.
J.Z. Katgerman Jr., L. Katgerman, I.J. Opstelten, and J.M. Rabenberg: in Light Metals 2001, J.L. Anjier, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2001, pp. 873–78.
D. Li, M.A. Wells, and G. Lockhart: in Light Metals 2001, J.L. Anjier, ed., TSM, Warrendale, PA, 2001, pp. 865–71.
L.I. Kiss, T. Meenken, A. Charette, Y. Lefebvre, and R. Levesque: in Light Metals 2002, W. Schneider, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2002, pp. 981–85.
S.G. Hibbins: in Continuous Casting Vol. II: Heat Flow, Solidification and Crack Formation, J.K. Brimacombe, I.V. Samarasekera, and J.E. Lait, eds., ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1984, pp. 139–51.
J.B. Wiskel and S.L. Cockcroft: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1996, vol. 27B, pp. 119–27.
J.A. Bakken and T. Bergstrom: Light Metals 1986, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1986, pp. 883–89.
E.K. Jensen, S. Johansen, T. Bergstrom, and J.A. Bakken: Light Metals 1986, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1986, pp. 891–96.
Y. Watanabe and N. Hayashi: in Light Metals 1996, W. Hale, eds., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1996, pp. 979–84.
J. Sengupta, D. Maijer, M.A. Wells, S.L. Cockcroft, and A. Larouche: in Light Metals 2003, W. Schneider, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2003, pp. 841–47.
L. Bendig, M. Raudensky, and J. Horsky: in 78th Steel Making Conference Proceedings, Nashville, TN, 1995, ISS, 1995, 391–98.
M. El-Bealy, N. Leskinen, and H. Fredriksson: Ironmaking and Steelmaking, 1995, vol. 22 (3), pp. 246–55.
L.K. Chiang: in 57th Electric Furnace Conference, 1999, Pittsburgh, PA, Iron & Steel Society, Warrendale, PA, 1999, 653–70.
S.-M. Lee and S.-Y. Jang: Iron Steel Inst. Jpn. Int. (Japan), 1996, vol. 36 (Supplementary on Science and Technology of Steelmaking), pp. 208–10.
T. Kohno, T. Shima, T. Kuwabara, T. Yamamoto, M. Wake, and T. Tsuneoka: in Continuous Casting Vol. II: Heat Flow, Solidification and Crack Formation, I.V. Samarasekera, J.K. Brimacombe, and J.E. Lait, eds., ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1984, 133–37.
L.A. Baptista: Master’s Thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1979.
J.L. Dassel and T.C. Zinniger: Light Metals 1982, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1982, pp. 793–801.
W. Schneider and E.K. Jensen: in Light Metals 1990, C.M. Bickert, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1990, pp. 931–36.
W. Schneider: in Light Metals 2002, W. Schneider, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2002, pp. 953–60.
H. Yu: Light Metals 1980, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1980, pp. 613–28.
I. Wagstaff: U.S. Patent No. 4,693,298, 1987.
N.B. Bryson: “Casting of Aluminum Ingots,” U.S. Patent No. 3,411.079, 1969.
A. Moitra: Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 1993.
F. Costes, A. Heinrich, and M. Bellet: in Modelling of Casting, Welding and Advanced Solidification Processes—X, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2003, pp. 393–400.
A. Mo, M. Rappaz, and C.L. Martin: Aluminum, 2002, vol. 78 (10), pp. 856–64.
A. Henry: Light Met. Age, 2000, vol. 58 (7–8), pp. 66–67.
MSC-MARC Reference Manuals, MSC Software Corporation, Redwood City, CA, 2003.
ABAQUS Reference Manuals (Version 6.6), Hibbit, Karlson and Sorensen, Inc., Providence, RI, 2003.
A. Hakonsen and D. Mortensen: Modeling of Casting, Welding and Advanced Solidification Processes VII, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 963–70.
H.G. Fjaer and E.K. Jensen: Light Metals 1995, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 951–59.
H.G. Fjaer and A. Mo: Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1990, vol. 21B, pp. 1049–61.
H.G. Fajer and A. Hakonsen: Light Metals 1997, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1997, pp. 683–90.
Aluminum: Project Fact Sheet, Newsletter published by Office of Industrial Technologies, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy, United States Department of Energy (DOE), Washington, DC, 2000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sengupta, J., Thomas, B.G. & Wells, M.A. The use of water cooling during the continuous casting of steel and aluminum alloys. Metall Mater Trans A 36, 187–204 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-005-0151-y
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-005-0151-y