SMS Demag AG, Germany, recently put the new single-strand slab caster No. 3 into operation at Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (SZFG), Germany.

SMS Demag’s scope of supply comprised mechanical equipment, the basic electrical and automation systems, erection and progress supervision, and the commissioning.

The new slab caster is equipped to produce high-quality steel grades, including such features as a springloaded resonance oscillator^® with hydraulic drive, continuous frictional force measurement, and CyberLink^® segments capable of soft reduction with dynamically controlled segment adjustment. The caster’s secondary cooling system is equipped with a variable spraying width that can be adapted to the casting width.

A Dynamic Solidification Calculation (DSC^®) cooling model controls the caster’s closed-loop control circuits. The automation system includes a breakout prediction system in the mould, as well as process models for dynamic temperature control in the strand guide system. The process models also calculate strand solidification with specification of parameters for soft reduction, and determine the optimum casting speed range for process control.

Capable of producing 250-mm thick slabs that range in width from 850 to 2100 mm, the new Caster No. 3 has a metallurgical length of 30.9 meters and a vertical section of approximately 2.6 meters. The new caster, which joins two existing circular-arc casters, will enlarge the capacity and flexibility of facility’s casting operations, and will help to optimize plant capacity utilization. The annual combined capacity for all three casters is approximately 4.7 million tonnes of slabs.

SMS Demag AG forms part of the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology Business Area of the SMS group. The SMS group is internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering relating to the processing of steel, non-ferrous metals and plastics. The group is divided into the Business Areas of Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology, Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology and Plastics Technology. In the year 2003 around 9500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of around EUR 2.20 billion.