Continuous castingContinuous casting refers to the method of continuously pouring molten metal into a water-cooled metal mold (crystallizer) and continuously solidifying and forming. The structure of the water-cooled metal mold determines the cross-sectional shape of the casting.1. Continuous casting processThe continuous casting process of Cast iron pipe is shown in animation 2-2-8: the water-cooled metal mold is mainly composed of inner and outer mold, and the gap between the inner and outer mold is the wall thickness of the casting. Before pouring, the lifting plate rises to seal the bottom of the water-cooled metal mold. During pouring, the molten metal evenly enters the water-cooled metal mold cavity through a circular rotating pouring cup with small holes. When the lower cast iron has solidified to a certain height, the lifting plate descends and continuously pulls out the solidified part, while the molten iron is continuously poured in at the corresponding pouring speed until the end.  Animation demonstration of continuous casting process2. Characteristics and Applications of Continuous CastingCompared to other casting methods, the advantages of continuous casting are:(1) Due to the fast cooling rate of the casting, the structure is dense and the mechanical properties are good.(2) There is no need for a pouring system or a core for hollow castings, which reduces metal consumption, simplifies the molding process, reduces labor intensity, and reduces production area.(3) The equipment is relatively simple, and the production process is easy to achieve mechanization and automation.(4) Continuous casting is almost suitable for various alloys, such as steel, cast iron, aluminum alloy, copper alloy, magnesium alloy, etc.However, continuous casting is not suitable for the production of castings with changes in cross-section and uneven wall thickness, and the quality of the cast pipe is worse than that of centrifugal casting.Continuous casting is mainly used for mass production of long castings with equal cross-section, such as copper ingots, copper alloy ingots, aluminum alloy ingots, water supply and drainage pipelines, gas pipelines, plates, wires, etc. The diameter of the ingot can range from a few tens of millimeters to 500 millimeters, and the diameter of the casting tube can range from 100 to 1300 millimeters; The length is 5-10 meters.