Development and state-of-the-art of the DSC-process

A consortium formed by research institutes, steel producers and a plant builder is developing the DSC-strip production process. It is based on a casting process where liquid steel is fed on a moving conveyer belt cooled from below by water. After solidification a strip is obtained which is directly in-line hot rolled. The developmental state achieved at the pilot plants, main steps in the process development and obtained product properties are given. Based on the state reached at the pilot plants, it can be concluded that the DSC-process is suitable for production of high quality strip. Such a production process would provide a very high productivity which is a basic requirement for a strip casting process to fit into an integrated plant. The investment and production costs would be comparatively low. By avoiding reheating processes to a far extent and by optimising the amount of hot reduction a significant energy saving can be achieved. A far reaching perspective of the new near-net-shape casting processes, and especially of the DSC-process, is the production of strip from new steel materials having properties which are significantly superior to conventional steel grades. The next big step in order to establish the DSC-process is the design and erection of a production-scale demonstration plant.