Novel side dams including advanced laminated ceramic for twin roller continuous casting

Novel side dams for twin roller continuous casting were fabricated. The side dams were divided into three zones and were prepared with different materials to meet working demands. Al2O3–ZrO2 laminated ceramic was used as a key part to overcome immense friction and wear and frequent thermal impact during the whole casting process. A series of experiments for laminated composite were carried out, and the results indicated that the laminated composite presents rather excellent comprehensive properties including considerable fracture strength and fracture toughness, high critical thermal shock temperature difference and good tribological properties. These superior comprehensive properties are mainly attributed to the special laminated structure with expected residual stress in different layers. Furthermore, the side dams were successfully applied in the twin roller continuous casting in the laboratory. The side dams exhibit good working ability under extremely tough conditions and the steel strips produced by continuous casting present good qualities.