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Continuous Casting Machine

Materials Engineering

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A continuous casting machine solidifies molten metal directly into a semifinished billet, bloom or slab for later rolling, replacing the older method of pouring steel into stationary molds to form individual ingots; the metal passes from a ladle through a buffer reservoir called a tundish into an oscillating water-cooled copper mold, then through spray chambers and withdrawal rolls that guide and cool the solidifying strand before cutting equipment sizes the finished piece. Sir Henry Bessemer patented the basic idea of casting metal between two counter-rotating rollers in 1857, but continuous casting was not implemented commercially until the 1950s. The machine lowered the cost of producing metal sections while improving quality and consistency, and it is now the standard method used to cast the great majority of the worlds steel.

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Invented By

Henry Bessemer, Engineers

Patented the basic idea of casting metal between two counter-rotating rollers in 1857, but continuous casting was not commercially implemented until the 1950s.

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