Strand straightening in the continuous casting of steel

In the continuous casting of steel, a strand with a solidifiededge is produced by pouring molten steel through a water-cooledmould. The strand is curved below the mould to travel horizontallyby a series of roll pairs. In this paper, the forces actingon these rolls and the stress and strain/strain rates withinthe steel are predicted. The mathematical model considers rigid-plasticand elastoplastic behaviour. A numerical solution procedurebased on computational fluid dynamics has been adapted to solvethe equations governing the material deformation. Algorithmsfor determining the location of the strand free surface andthe contact or noncontact of rolls are described.