IMPACT OF MOULD POWDER DENSITY ON SURFACE QUALITY AND NEAR-SURFACE ZONE MICROSTRUCTURE OF CAST SLAB

The modifications of physicochemical properties of mould powders are usually obtained by control of their mineralogical composition. Depending on the mould powder form and grain size the thermal insulating changes within the mould. Thus, the mould powder density has a significant impact on heat exchange in mould. The experiments were carried out to increase the pulverised mould powder density by forming it into uniform shape blocks. Using the industrial continuous casting machine the experimental casting of slab ingots from low-carbon steel with pulverised, granulated and formed mould powder with identical mineralogical composition was carried out. The highest calculated consumption values Qs (kg/m2) were obtained for the formed mould powder. The microscopic examinations of subsurface zone of the slabs cast with formed mould powder revealed the existence of hooks with smaller length and depth of penetration into slab structure than those in the slabs cast with granulated and pulverised mould powder. The results of the experiments have indicated that the use of formed mould powders allows increasing the casting speed without deterioration in quality of surface and subsurface zone of the continuous slab