Quality and production of sinter is essential for an appropriateoperation of the blast furnace. A model for the prediction of theburn through point in sintering process is developed in orderto improve the stability of the process. Speed strand, air flowthrough the bed, raw material rates and real thermocouples temperaturesare considered as input variables. The sinter bed is splitinto portions and a set of differential equations (mass and heatbalances) are established in order to obtain a good estimationof the gas temperature at the wind boxes. These temperaturesare compared with the actual measurements and entered into themodel to achieve a typical modern filtered scheme.

The design of a parameter-dependent controller to rejectperiodic mould level fluctuations at a thin slab caster ispresented. These fluctuations can be related to bulging ofthe solidified steel shell between the supporting rolls. Theydeteriorate the steel quality and prohibit high speed casting.A state of the art controller has been designed to suppressthese casting speed dependent fluctuations and is basedon a H∞-optimal controller design technique. The controllerhas been implemented at caster of the Corus Direct SheetPlant in IJmuiden. Measurement results show a significantreduction of these periodic mould level fluctuations.

ArcelorMittal Atlantique has developed the DWI UltraLow Aluminium grades to improve the rejection ratesduring the deep drawing of beverage cans. At the time ofindustrialization of this grade, an increase of slivers defectswas recorded. The analysis of these slivers permitted totrace down their origin to the continuous casting powder.The compared analysis of slags during casting, respectivelyon standard DWI and ULA DWI, pointed out infiltrationphenomena and inclusion pick-up. A high viscosity powderwas formulated. An acceptable sliver rate was achievedwith a strong decrease in downstream repaired coils.

The constraints of CAL are spread over narrow heat cycles,sensitive strip formats, recurrent product size changes,flexible lines and productivity. An up-to-date mathematicalmodel, coupled with an advanced transition managementhas been designed to synchronously control the furnaceequipments as well as the line speed. It allows processreaction forecast on the current and coming strips throughdeep thermal modelling and it generates the optimal routesfor driving the transitions.

Transverse buckling of a strip in continuous annealingproduction line (CAPL) has been investigated. Transversebuckling occurs when the induced compressive stress resultingfrom non uniform longitudinal stretching in the strip exceedsa critical buckling stress. The MARC software has been usedalong with a buckling nonlinear geometrical analysis. Themechanisms of major factors, such as roll profile, flatness,strip size, transverse distribution of temperature, weldingseam and strip track-off are reported. The average houroutput increased by 5.89% through a series of technicaldevelopments.

The new Mo free duplex stainless steel UR2202 wasdeveloped by Industeel in close cooperation with Ugitech -Schmolz + Bickenbach. It can be used in many constructionor transport applications, as a substitute for 304 and 304L.With at least the same corrosion properties, the new UR2202has higher mechanical properties. This provides the potentialfor significant weight savings for fabricated tanks, pressurevessels etc., when compared to the austenitic grade.Different welding products are considered to achievehomogeneous or heterogeneous welds with the lean duplexbase metal and can be selected according to the requiredcorrosion resistance, toughness and tensile properties.