Continuous casting - past, present and future

Abstract

For over a decade, Continuous Casting has been a maturetechnology that has prevailed in the steel industry. ConventionalCC is still undergoing small but deep and subtle transformations.Thin Slab Casting is developing at a rate commensurate with theneed of new capacity. Strip Casting has been limited to industrialpilot lines, although commercial implementations have beenannounced. In the perspective of the changes that the steel industry will haveto undergo in the 21^st century (control of Greenhouse Gasemissions in particular), continuous casting will be one of theinvariants to provide a degree of stability. Indeed, solidification willmost probably continue to be performed on continuous casters.