CRISTALLISEUR POUR LA COULEE CONTINUE DES METAUX ET PROCEDE DE REALISATION DU CRISTALLISEUR

1461744 Making continuous casting moulds; explosive forming CONCAST Inc 28 July 1975 [29 July 1974] 31568/75 Headings B3A B3Q B3V and B3F The wall or walls of a continuous casting mould are formed or reformed against a die by detonating an explosive. Curved or straight tubular moulds may be formed, or the walls of plate moulds. Chill moulds may be formed having irregularly convergent walls or walls which are at least partly convex or concave transversely of the mould longitudinal axis. In the embodiment a copper or copper alloy mould (10), Figs. 2 and 3 (not shown), with converging walls is shaped in water against a die 60, Fig. 6, by an explosive cord 76 with additional explosive at the edges or other places if required. The space 62 between the blank 1011 and the die is sealed by O-rings 72 backed by spring-pressed end caps 75 and is evacuated through passages 74. Direct contact between the explosive and blank may be prevented by foamed plastics, rubber, paper, cork or air. The mould is removed from the die by heating and is cut to length. Used moulds may be restored to size by the process after scratches have been removed by machining. A surface smoothness of 32 r.m.s. and a hardness of 50-75 Rockwall B may result. In a modification (not shown), the blank is immersed in a flowable explosive. The blank 1011 is an extrusion of square crosssections which have been expanded in a die 36, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 (not shown), by an explosive 54. A straight or bent initial blank 101, depending upon the radius of the die-cavity, is placed in the die 36 which may structure the formed blank to impart a definite flow pattern to cooling water applied against it during use of the mould, Fig. 1 (not shown).