Plants for Copper and Copper Alloys wire production (“Sky Cast” Technology)

The upward Continuous Casting Plant, or "Sky Cast Continuous Casting Plant" (also called "SCP" or "Sky Cast") has been developed by GMS for Copper and Copper Alloys wire production with the continuous casting technology, suitable for subsequent cold rolling and / or drawing. After casting, the choice of the wire processing technology depends on the Alloy type and on the section diameter.

The wire surface is free of oxidation traces and cracks, so no further peeling procedure is required before subsequent processing.

The main components of the "Sky Cast" System are the following:

Holding Furnace | Withdrawal Machine | Wire Coolers | Wire Coiling Machines

01.

Holding Furnace

The special design of Holding Furnace allows to produce wires without any interruption during the molten metal charging from the Melting Furnace. A Temperature Control System maintains automatically the molten metal’s temperature at the casting required values.

02.

Withdrawal Machine

The Withdrawal Machine has the function of pulling up the cast wire directly from the relative Wire Coolers. The Withdrawal Machine is equipped with drive rollers and pneumatically actuated pressure rollers. A Withdrawal Control System allows a strict control of the casting parameters, depending directly on the wire diameter and the Alloy type.

Examples of the “Sky Cast” Continuous Casting Plant with 8 strands for Brass wire production, Ø 16 mm

03.

Wire Coolers

The battery of Wire Coolers is the core part of the plant. Crystallizers, in fact, solidify the molten Copper in the form of a continuous wire (wire rod). Every Cooler edge with the Graphite Die is immersed in the liquid metal at a defined length. Graphite dies are kept in a constant depth into the bath by an automatic level position control equipment regulating the upward and downward stroke of the Withdrawal Machine according to the metal level in the Holding Furnace.
The special design enables to handle and to replace individually each Cooler and Graphite Die. The average working time required to replace each Wire Cooler is about 15 minutes.

04.

Wire Coiling Machines

The Wire Coiling Machines are placed at suitable distance from the Withdrawal Machine. Each wire is driven through its Speed Control Device to the Wire Coiling Machine. The coiling speed is automatically adjusted following the casting speed.
The width of the wire rod coil to be wound is automatically determined. The nominal weight of each coil can be set between 3,5 t and 5 t as desired by the plant manager.