Development of a Novel Strand Reduction Technology for the Continuous Casting of Homogeneous High‐Carbon Steel Billet

Abstract

Internal quality issues concerning center segregation, porosity, and internal crack are the major problems with respect to the production of high‐carbon steels billet with a continuous casting process. Herein, a heat transfer calculation model is developed, verified, and applied to calculate the appropriate casting speed and secondary cooling intensity of the continuous casting billet with a section size of 160 mm square during mechanical reduction processes. The mechanical reduction on the homogeneity of the billet is investigated by several field trails to improve the internal quality of the high‐carbon 82 A steel billet. Consequently, a superoptimum crack‐free high‐carbon steel billet with high homogeneity both in segregation and in compactness is successfully achieved through a novel strand reduction pattern, combined with consecutive multiroll soft reduction and single‐roll heavy reduction.