Abstract: An oscillator for oscillating a mold in a continuous casting apparatus has a motor, and a linkage connecting the motor to the mold. The linkage includes a pair of noncircular gears which are in mesh with one another. The noncircular gears are arranged and designed such that, during the major part of the displacement of the mold concurrently with a strand being cast in the mold, the speed of the mold exceeds the casting speed.

Abstract: Molten metal is continuously teemed from a ladle into a tundish. The latter feeds a continuous stream of the molten metal to a cooled mold having opposite open ends connected by a casting passage. The molten metal enters the mold at one end and partially solidifies in the casting passage to form a continuously cast strand which is withdrawn from the mold at its other end. The strand initially consists of a thin shell of solidified metal, and a molten core which is confined by the shell. Upon leaving the mold, the strand is conveyed through a bath of molten metal. The metal of the bath has a lower melting point than, and a specific gravity comparable to that of, the metal being cast. The bath functions to cool the strand uniformly so that the quality of the strand is maintained. The bath further counteracts the tendency of the molten core to cause bulging of the solidified shell which also serves to enhance the quality of the strand.