According to Danieli, China’s Masteel cast the beam blank measuring 1,300 mm wide and weighing nearly 2.7 metric tons per meter. In producing the blank, the caster reached its capacity of 97 tons/hour per strand during the first cast. 

Danieli said the company is the first to produce a beam blank of that size. 

“This successful achievement was made possible thanks to very close cooperation between Masteel and Danieli,” Danieli said in a statement. “Plant start-up was efficiently supported by Danieli personnel operating on-site and from Danieli technological offices, using remote connections and advanced tools such as Q-SPACE.”

The two-strand, 12-m-radius machine also can produce BB5 beam blanks – measuring 900 mm x 510 mm x 130 mm – and BB6 beam blanks – 1,030 mm x 440 mm x 130 mm. In addition, it can make small slabs, 550 mm x 280 mm, in twin-mold configuration.