Jiangyin Xingcheng Special Steel Works Co Ltd based in Jiangyin in Jiangsu Province of China has placed an order with SMS Concast, a company of SMS group, for a three-strand jumbo bloom caster able to continuously cast 1,200-milli­meter round blooms. This will be a new record in steel production technology, as it will be the first caster in the world to produce 1,200-millimeter blooms in a curved continuous casting process.

This record-breaking new bloom caster with a nominal radius of 18 meters will be designed to produce a wide range of rounds from 600 up to 1,200 millimeters in diameter, in highly demanding steel grades ranging from bearing through to stainless steels. These grades are demanded by the forging and large-bearing industries for the production of bearings and shafts for green technologies, such as wind power mills, for example.

The jumbo caster will be equipped with advanced SMS Concast technologies such as INVEX molds, CONFLOW stopper mechanisms, CONSTIR electromagnetic stirrers as well as dynamic mechanical soft reduction and dynamic spray cooling – the latter two will be controlled by the COOL solidification simulation software. All of these technologies aim at a stable process and improved internal product quality. In addition, surface heaters will assure that no cracks are generated during unbending of the giant round blooms. Beyond that, the most advanced software solidification models will support a simplified and reliable decision-making process to ensure process stability.

Commissioning of this record-breaking jumbo continuous casting machine is scheduled to take place at the end of May 2021.