Development and state-of-the-art of the DSC-process

A consortium formed by research institutes, steel producers and a plant bui lder is developing the DSC-strip production process. It is based on a casti ng process where liquid steel is fed on a moving conveyer belt cooled from below by water. After solidification a strip is obtained which is directly in-line hot rolled. The developmental state achieved at the pilot plants, m ain steps in the process development and obtained product properties are gi ven. Based on the state reached at the pilot plants, it can be concluded th at the DSC-process is suitable for production of high quality strip. Such a production process would provide a very high productivity which is a basic requirement for a strip casting process to fit into an integrated plant. T he investment and production costs would be comparatively low. By avoiding reheating processes to a far extent and by optimising the amount of hot red uction a significant energy saving can be achieved. A far reaching perspect ive of the new near-net-shape casting processes, and especially of the DSC- process, is the production of strip from new steel materials having propert ies which are significantly superior to conventional steel grades. The next big step in order to establish the DSC-process is the design and erection of a production-scale demonstration plant.