PREMΛP: Exploring the Design Space for Continuous Casting of Steel

Continuous casting is a crucial step in the production of a variety of steel products. Its performance is measured in terms of productivity, yield, quality and production costs, which are conflicting. In this paper an integrated design framework has been developed based on metamodels and the compromise Decision Support Problem (cDSP) for determining a robust solution. Further, the design space for continuous casting has been explored to determine robust solutions for different requirements. Moreover, the utility of the framework has been illustrated for providing decision support when an existing configuration for continuous casting is unable to meet the requirements. This approach can be easily instantiated for other unit operations involved in steel manufacturing and then can be used to integrate the host of operations for the development of materials with specific properties and the combined design of products and materials. This enables an integrated simulation based design framework, PREMΛP, and will lead to a paradigm shift in the manufacturing industry.