Constellium’s Mould Technology for Al Alloy Slab DC Casting

DCC mould developments aim at meeting criteria either internal or external to the cast shop. To the first category belong operational robustness, mould simplicity, mould versatility in terms of alloys and water quality, that is the possibility to obtain very high recovery rates whatever the alloy hot cracking or curling tendency, in any casthouse regardless of its particular water supply. To the second category belongs the minimisation, potentially the suppression of butt sawing before rolling. Constellium has striven to suppress butt cracking during start-up and surface cracks in steady state. This has led us to reconsider the choice of jets angles and start-up strategies of the commercially available technologies, and eventually to develop our own mould technology, now patented and widely deployed within Constellium.