R. Hardin, C. Beckermann, Hou-Fa Shen, K. Liu, V. Raghavendra, E. Rizzo (Unicamp, Brazil)

One project in this area deals with the design and control of a so-called 'soft reduction' section in the thin-slab continuous steel caster presently being installed by IPSCO in a new mini-mill near Muscatine, Iowa. The soft reduction section is located at the end of the caster and serves to reduce the slab thickness to make up for solidification shrinkage and prevent centerline segregation. Modeling involves (i) a Neural Network and (ii) a heat transfer and segregation simulation code.

Another area of emphasis is thermomechanical modeling, especially of deformations and segregation in the partially solidified region (mushy zone) in continuous casting of steel. This is important not only for soft reduction, but also for a new process called "continuous forging."

Finally, we are developing a new heat transfer model which can be used as a control tool to dynamically (during operation) adjust the spray cooling in continuous casting. More detail later.