Method of and apparatus for continuous casting
OwnerCalvin C. Williamsoninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of continuously casting metal comprising feeding molten metal into an open-ended mold to form a billet, cooling the molten metal in the mold to form a solidified skin on the billet, withdrawing the billet from the mold, and applying external fluid pressure to the withdrawn portion of the billet. The external fluid pressure is sufficient to prevent breakout of molten metal through the skin, and the magnitude of the external pressure applied to one region of the billet is less than the magnitude of the external pressure applied to another region of the billet.
Claims12
A method of continuously casting metal comprising:
- pouring molten metal through a nozzle into a pouring chamber;
- flowing the molten metal in a stream through the pouring chamber and into an open-ended mold to form a billet;
- controlling the pressure in the pouring chamber to thereby control the flow rate through the nozzle;
- cooling the metal in the mold to form a solidified skin on a peripheral region of the billet;
- withdrawing the billet from the mold with the metal within the solidified skin being molten;
- and
- applying external fluid pressure to at least a portion of the billet withdrawn from the mold to prevent the molten metal of such portion of the billet from breaking through the skin.
A continuous casting apparatus comprising:
- a mold having open upper and lower ends, said mold being adapted to have molten metal fed thereto through the open upper end thereof to thereby form a billet;
- means in said mold for receiving a coolant to cool the molten metal whereby a peripheral region of the metal in the mold solidifies to form a skin;
- means defining a pressure vessel with a passage extending therethrough, said passage being in communication with the lower end of the mold and adapted to receive the billet from the mold;
- said pressure vessel having a plurality of pressure chambers along said passage and opening into said passage;
- conduit means for supplying fluid under pressure to each of said pressure chambers;
- means for individually controlling the pressure in each of said chambers whereby the pressure in said chambers can be different;
- means defining a pouring chamber above the upper end of the mold whereby molten metal can be poured from a container through the pouring chamber and into the mold;
- and
- first valve means for controlling the pressure in the pouring chamber to thereby control the rate at which molten metal is poured into the mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.