Ugitech optimizes steel casting process using COMSOL Multiphysics

Christian Deville-Cavellin, Ugitech S.A., Ugine, France

In any industrial process, one key goal is to optimize speed. For Ugitech S.A., a manufacturer of stainless steel in France, that means running its continuing casting machines as fast as possible while maintaining quality. Yet, if you cut off individual pieces from the square bloom coming out of the casts prematurely, the inside of the steel section will not completely solidify, and a molten metal well with as much as 1.5 tons of liquid steel can empty into the bottom sections of the vertical concast machine, causing major damage. Through modeling, Ugitech is optimizing the proper temperatures and process speeds for each of the 150 different steel grades the company produces.