Mould for continuous casting of metal strips
A mould for continuously casting metal strips comprises a pair of side walls ( 11 ) on opposite sides of an open-ended mould cavity (C) having an entrance end (E) for continuously receiving molten metal and an exit end (D) for continuously discharging a moving solidified strip (D) formed from the molten metal. Each mould side wall ( 11 ) includes a graphite block ( 13 ) formed of a stack of a multiplicity of elongate graphite laminae ( 16 ) having opposite faces ( 16 A) and inner edges ( 16 B), said inner edges ( 16 B) jointly forming a surface ( 16 A) directed toward the mould cavity (C). The mould further comprises a cooling system associated with each graphite block ( 13 ) and including coolant tubes ( 15 ) extending through the stack transversely to said opposite faces ( 16 A) of the graphite laminae ( 16 ) forming the stack.
1. A mould for continuously casting metal strips, comprising a pair of mould side walls on opposite sides of an open-ended mould cavity having an entrance end for continuously receiving molten metal and an exit end for continuously discharging a moving solidified strip formed from the molten metal,
each said mould side wall including a graphite block and a cooling system including coolant tubes,
wherein the graphite block of each of said mould side walls is formed of a stack of a multiplicity of elongate graphite laminae having opposite faces and inner edges, said inner edges jointly forming a graphite surface directed toward the mould cavity, and
wherein each elongate graphite laminae has one or more apertures through which said coolant tubes are received such that the coolant tubes extend through the stack transversely to said opposite faces of the graphite laminae forming the stack.
2. A continuous-casting mould as claimed in claim 1 , including a pair of metal end members in face-to-face engagement with the outer face of respective ones of the two outermost graphite laminae of the stack, the coolant tubes being received in said end members.
3. A continuous-casting mould as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the graphite laminae of each stack are oriented such that their inner edges extend between the entrance and exit ends of the mould cavity, the coolant tubes extending transversely of the direction of movement of the strip discharging through the exit end of the mould cavity during operation of the mould.
4. A continuous-casting mould as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of opposed end walls of the mould cavity are formed by a pair of graphite bars bridging the gap between said side walls along the ends of the stacks of graphite laminae.
5. A continuous-casting mould as claimed in claim 1 including for each of said mould side walls a mould cavity lining member formed of a thin graphite plate supported by said stack of laminae.
6. A continuous-casting mould as claimed in claim 1 including for each stack of graphite laminae a stack-supporting plate substantially coextensive with the stack.
7. A continuous-casting mould as claimed in claim 1 wherein said graphite laminae are made of compacted graphite flakes oriented so as to be generally parallel to said opposite faces of the graphite laminae.