Abstract: A ladle stream breaker is disclosed, for use in a tundish comprising a pouring zone where a stream of molten metal is poured from a casting ladle through a pouring tube, and a flotation zone downward the pouring zone, where the molten metal free from its inclusions flows out through a vertical outlet tube into a continuous casting mold. The stream breaker consists of a closed box made from a refractory material, which box has a top wall provided with an opening sized to receive the lower end of the pouring tube, and a number of lateral walls each provided with a plurality of openings sized to allow the molten metal injected into the box to escape from this box in the form of a plurality of sub-streams of low energy. The lateral walls of the closed box and their openings are arranged in such a manner that every sub-stream flowing out of its associated opening impinges a wall of the tundish and flows in a direction substantially perpendicular to this tundish wall.

Abstract: An improved tundish is disclosed, for use in combination with a casting ladle and a casting mold to continuously cast metal slabs. This tundish comprises an elongated, flat-bottomed basin known as a flotation box in between a pouring box with a vertical partition and an antivortex box. A first recess is provided in the bottom of the basin just under the partition to prevent any slag formed upstream of the partition from being entrained. The first recess also creates an upward stream rising from the bottom of the recess along the partition downstream the same, which allows optimal inclusion separation and substantial reduction of the dead volume zones in the basin downstream the partition. A second recess from which an outlet nozzle downwardly extends, is also provided in the bottom of the basin adjacent to the end of the flotation box. This second recess forms an antivortex volume above the outlet nozzle, thereby allowing substantial reduction of the metal left in the tundish on every casting sequence.