Process and apparatus for continuous casting

A process for continuously casting molten metal wherein a moulding cavity having upper and lower walls is formed between two moving endless belts which respectively form the upper and lower walls of the moulding cavity and the side walls are formed by a pair of endless side dams that move with the belts along the moulding cavity from the inlet to the outlet thereof, the upper and lower moving belts being cooled by contact with a cooling liquid, and molten metal in introduced into the inlet and a product is discharged from the outlet which is solidified at least on the outside thereof, the side dams thus passing during their movement along the moulding cavity successively through a first zone in which they face molten metal and a second zone in which they face solidified metal, and the side dams are guided through said first and second zones by a pair of fixed guides extending along near the respective guided side dam in said first and second zones, this process is characterized by:

• providing a longitudinal channel in each of the fixed guides in said second zone facing toward the respective guided side dam,
• in said longitudinal channels directly spraying cooling liquid in a plurality of sprays directed against the moving side dams as they travel along at least a portion of the second zone in which they face solidified metal,
• spraying said plurality of sprays against the moving side dams at locations spaced along the major portion of said second zone, and
• allowing the cooling liquid which has been applied to the moving side dams to escape from said channels near the outlet of the moulding cavity.

Continuous casting apparatus including a moulding cavity formed by means of lower and upper moving walls formed by respective lower and upper revolving endless belts each having upper and lower runs, the lower wall being formed by the upper run of said lower endless belt, the upper wall being formed by the lower run of said upper endless belt, and the side walls being formed by a pair of endless side dams, that are adapted to move with the belts along the moulding cavity from the inlet to the outlet thereof, a pair of fixed guides to guide the respective side dams during their movement along the moulding cavity, each of said side dams has an inside surface and an outside surface, said outside surface is adjacent to the respective fixed guide which is guiding the respective moving side dam, means for applying a cooling liquid on the reverse surfaces of the lower and upper walls, and a first zone, in which the inside surface of each of said side dams faces liquid metal when the apparatus is running, and a second zone, in which the inside surface of each of said side dams faces solidified metal when the apparatus is running, said apparatus being characterized in that:

• each of the fixed guides defines a cooling chamber therein adapted to the be cooled extending over at least a part of the length of the fixed guide,
• cooling fluid supply means connected to said chamber for circulation of a cooling liquid in the chamber,
• each of the fixed guides having a longitudinal channel extending therealong along said second zone adjacent to the outside surface of the moving side dam being guided by the respective fixed guide,
• each such longitudinal channel having an open end near the outlet of the moulding cavity,
• each fixed guide having a plurality of fluid spray openings therein communicating with the cooling chamber and being aimed into the longitudinal channel toward the outside surface of the respective side dam being guided by the fixed guide for spraying cooling fluid on the outside surface of the side dam in at least a part of the aforesaid second zone, and
• said fluid spray openings being aimed in directions that, seen from the inlet of the moulding cavity, form acute angles with the longitudinal channel for propelling the cooling fluid in the longitudinal channel in a downstream direction toward the open end of the channel.

Continuous casting apparatus for casting molten metal wherein a moulding cavity having upper and lower walls is formed between two moving belts which respectively form the upper and lower walls of the moulding cavity, and the side walls are formed by a pair of endless side dams that move with the belts along the moulding cavity from the inlet to the outlet thereof, the upper and lower walls being cooled by liquid coolant, and molten metal being introduced into the inlet and a product is discharged from the outlet which is solidified at least on the outside thereof, the side dams thus passing during their movement along the moulding cavity successively through a first zone in which their respective inner surfaces face molten metal and a second zone in which they face solidifed metal, said apparatus comprising:

• guide means extending along adjacent to the outer surface of the respective moving side dam for guiding the moving side dam along the moulding cavity and defining a longitudinal channel extending adjacent to the outer surface of the respective moving side dam along at least a portion of said second zone,
• each longitudinal channel having an open end near the outlet of the moulding cavity,
• liquid spray means including a plurality of liquid spray orifices located at spaced positions along the respective longitudinal channel, and
• said spray orifices being aimed in directions that, as seen from the inlet of the moulding cavity form acute angles with the longitudinal channels for spraying liquid coolant directly onto the respective outer surface of the respective moving side dam as it moves along adjacent to said channel along said second zone and for propelling the liquid coolant in the longitudinal channel downstream toward the open end of the channel for escaping through said open end.