ABSTRACT

Continuous casting is used to solidify most of the 750 million tons of steel produced in the world every year. Like most commercial processes, continuous casting involves many complex interacting phenomena. Most previous advances have been based on empirical knowledge gained from experimentation with the process. To further optimize the design and improve the continuous casting process, mathematical models are becoming increasingly powerful tools to gain additional quantitative insight. The best models for this purpose are mechanistic models based on the fundamental laws and phenomena which govern the process, because they are more reliably extended beyond the range of data used to calibrate them.