Patent ID: 8205662

Claim:
A method of continuously casting metal strands, the method comprising the steps of: a) fitting in an outlet of a mold filled with molten metal a dummy bar having opposite faces that are treated to be wear resistant and that are spaced from each other at a precise spacing and joining a trailing face of the dummy bar to the metal in the mold; b) feeding the bar downward out of the mold directly into and through nips between successive pairs of rolls with a strand of the molten metal joined to the trailing face of the bar following the bar out of the mold through the nips, c) pressing the rolls of each of the pairs against the faces of the bar and against the strand following the bar to pinch the bar and strand between the pairs of rolls and to guide and shape the strand; c′) detecting the spacing of the rolls as they engage the faces of the dummy bar and positioning them against the strand in accordance with the detected spacing; d) when the strand following the dummy bar is sufficiently hard, separating the dummy bar from the strand; and e) recirculating the dummy bar to the mold for reuse in a subsequent continuous-casting operation.