For over a decade, Continuous Casting has been a mature technology that has prevailed in the steel industry. Conventional CC is still undergoing small but deep and subtle transformations. Thin Slab Casting is developing at a rate commensurate with the need of new capacity. Strip Casting has been limited to industrial pilot lines, although commercial implementations have been announced. In the perspective of the changes that the steel industry will have to undergo in the 21st century (control of Greenhouse Gas emissions in particular), continuous casting will be one of the invariants to provide a degree of stability. Indeed, solidification will most probably continue to be performed on continuous casters.

As regards conditions in the mould, Continuous Casting of 400 mm thick slabs can differ from conventional slab casting. Specific features of thick slab casting are reported, concerning heat fluxes, both integral and local. Local heat flux has been determined through an instrumented mould along with thermal modeling of the copper plate. Integral heat withdrawal data are compared with data from conventional slab casting. The effect of steel composition on integral and local heat extraction has been evaluated and interpreted in relation to residence times in the mould and to the relevant thermal resistances. The influence of tundish temperature on superheat in the mould and on heat removal was quantified. Oscillation mark depth and mould powder consumption have been related to heat withdrawal. Cracking defects were characterized in dependence on mould heat flux densities.

Clogging of Continuous Casting nozzle has a detrimental effect on productivity and product quality; it also increases production costs and goes against security. Many factors contribute to the clogging phenomenon, including the detailed process parameters of continuous casting and secondary metallurgy. Clogging can be effectively limited by Argon injection that is usually performed through the stopper rod. The nature and quality of the refractory equipment is another factor that must be considered carefully. The clogging mechanism has been clearly ascribed to the level and nature of non metallic inclusions, thus to the secondary metallurgy process. Effective counter measures that have been successfully implemented in Arcelor to achieve long sequence casting are presented.