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US 4,090,549 AGranted
Method and mechanism for determining forces on a solidifying casting
AssigneeUnited States Steel Corporation
InventorsKenneth D. Ives, Ronald S. Vranka
Life of this patent
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AssigneeUnited States Steel Corporation
InventorsKenneth D. Ives, Ronald S. Vranka
Estimating the term…
A method and mechanism for determining forces on a casting as it solidifies in a continuous-casting machine. A plurality of roll-pairs of an otherwise conventional curved roll-rack are equipped with means (e.g. load cells) which show the compressive load exerted by the different roll-pairs on the casting. The roll-pair beyond which no further upward trend in compressive load occurs marks the plane at which the casting first solidifies throughout its cross section, since beyond this plane the casting no longer has a liquid core tending to bulge the skin and separate the rolls. Whenever the load on a roll-pair departs substantially from the norm, the indication is that the rolls of this pair are improperly gapped (that is, the spacing between roll faces is either too great or too little).
In a curved roll-rack of a continuous-casting machine, which rack includes a plurality of opposed pairs of idler rolls arranged in top and bottom clusters of at least two rolls per cluster, between which rolls a continuously-formed casting travels as its direction of travel changes from substantially vertical to horizontal, and means supporting said rolls, said casting having only a thin solidified skin and a liquid core as it enters said rack, but solidifying throughout its cross section at a plane below the entry end of said rack, said rolls confining the casting and preventing its skin from bulging as long as the core remains liquid, the combination therewith of mechanism for locating said plane and locating improperly positioned rolls in said rack, said mechanism comprising holders which serve as keys for holding said clusters in said supporting means, and load cells mounted on the respective holders of a plurality of the roll-pairs along the length of said rack for indicating the compressive force exerted by each of said roll pairs on the casting.
In a continuous casting machine which includes:
In a continuous-casting operation in which a casting emerges from the bottom of a mold and travels between a plurality of opposed pairs of rolls, said casting having only a thin solidified skin and a liquid core as it leaves the mold, but solidifying throughout its cross section at a plane spaced below the mold, said rolls confining said casting and preventing its skin from bulging as long as the core remains liquid, the combination therewith of a method of locating said plane, said method comprising measuring the compressive loads at a plurality of the roll-pairs, and comparing the measurements at the different pairs to determine the pair beyond which there is no further upward trend in the load.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.