Continuous casting is the process that leads directly from liquid metal to the semi-finished product. In this way, it is possible to produce bars, profiles, strips and tubes both in steel and in non-ferrous metals such as copper and aluminium.
In particular, with regard to the latter metal, the number of alloys that can be used with this process is increasing. The absence of heating and remelting processes in the production cycle, in some cases up to recasting, makes the various continuous casting processes quite interesting.
The reduction of costs is intuitively a peculiar advantage and will be a source of savings, as the higher is the melting point of the material, the higher is the casting temperature. It is therefore not surprising that roughly 90% of steel (melting temperature = approximately 1400 °C) processed worldwide has adopted this procedure in the production cycle. In the aluminium sector (melting temperature = approximately 700 °C) the processes that include continuous casting are used in lower, yet still important, percentages. The products obtained from continuous casting can be divided into two distinct types. The first one leads to the production of plates with a reduced thickness and a wide width, used as stock for thin sheets, cooling fins, capsules and cans. The second one is characterized by the continuous production of bars, which can be used without further processing or after subsequent
