Abstract
As in any process, the laws of nature are at work in the continuous casting of metals. Heat spills down temperature gradients under the watchful eye of Fourier, while molten metal moves in response to inertial and body forces governed by the Navier-Stokes equations. Tensile strains develop in the solidifying shell subject to changing cooling conditions, the constitutive behavior of the metal, compatibility, and the Prandtl-Reuss relations. Solutes segregate as thermodynamics compete with diffusion to create a heterogeneous solid from a homogeneous liquid. The challenge to the process engineer is to harness these laws to continuously cast a metal section that is free of cracks, has minimal macrosegregation, and has the desired shape. Confronted with the demands of production, cost containment, and an educationally challenged workforce, the obstacles are very real. One response to the challenge is to move knowledge to the shop floor, where wealth is created, through expert systems to educate the workforce and through artificial intelligence to make the continuous casting process “smart.” Harnessing knowledge for wealth creation, and profitability, is the real challenge.
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References
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Additional information
The Edward DeMille Campbell Memorial Lecture was established in 1926 as an annual lecture in memory of and in recognition of the outstanding scientific contributions to the metallurgical profession by a distinguished educator who was blind for all but two years of his professional life. It recognizes demonstrated ability in metallurgical science and engineering.
Dr. J. Keith Brimacombe delivered the 1996 Edward DeMille Campbell Memorial Lecture at the ASM-TMS Meeting in Cincinnati, OH. The written lecture was nearly complete at the time of his untimely passing on December 16, 1997 and has been finished and submitted by his colleague, Professor I.V. Samarasekera.
On October 1, 1997, J. Keith Brimacombe was appointed the first President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Foundation for Innovation. This enterprise, newly established by the Federal Government of Canada, was provided with one billion dollars of funding with the objective of strengthening the nation’s research infrastructure in universities and hospitals. Sadly, Dr. Brimacombe was able to serve only 3 months of his term and succumbed to a massive heart attack on December 16, 1997, at the age of 54.
Dr. Brimacombe held the Alcan Chair in Materials Process Engineering, The Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering at the University of British Columbia, prior to his appointment with the Canada Foundation for Innovation. He was born in Nova Scotia, raised in Alberta, and received his undergraduate education at UBC, obtaining a B.A.Sc. (Hons.) in 1966. With the support of a Commonwealth Fellowship, he traveled to England and studied under one of the great metallurgical thermochemists of this century, F.D. Richardson, F.R.S., at Imperial College of Science and Technology in the University of London, where he received a Ph.D. in 1970. Subsequently, he was awarded the D.Sc. (Eng.) in 1986 by the University of London and an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering degree in 1994 by the Colorado School of Mines. He returned to the University of British Columbia in 1970 to establish courses and a research program in metallurgical process engineering. He remained at UBC, achieving the rank of Professor in 1979, Stelco Professor of Process Metallurgy (a chair endowed by Stelco) in 1980, Stelco/NSERC Professor (a chair endowed by Stelco and NSERC) in 1985, and the Alcan Chair in 1992. One of the finest metallurgical engineers on the world stage in this century, Dr. Brimacombe pioneered the application of mathematical models and industrial and laboratory measurements, to shed light on complex metallurgical processes spanning both the ferrous and nonferrous industries during his 27 year career at the University of British Columbia. For his groundbreaking research, he earned the reputation of being one of the most innovative intellectual giants in the field, for which he earned global recognition.
During his tenure at UBC, he built a large collaborative research group in metallurgical process engineering consisting of about 70 faculty, graduate students, research engineers, and technicians. Much of the research was conducted in close collaboration with Canadian companies such as Stelco, Hatch Associates, Algoma Steel, Western Canada Steel, Sidbec-Dosco, Ivaco, Cominco, Noranda, Inco, Alcan, Domtar, Canadian Liquid Air, and Liquid Carbonic. The thrust of the research was the development and improvement of metallurgical processes, such as continuous casting of steel, flash smelting of lead and copper converting, rotary kilns, and micro-structural engineering of steel and aluminum, and DC casting processes. This body of work led to 300 publications and nine patents as well as two books. In 1985, in cooperation with faculty colleagues, he founded the Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering at UBC and was named its Director. The purpose of the Centre is to strengthen the interdisciplinary approach to metallurgical process research and to broaden the field of application to materials other than metals. For this body of research, he was awarded the B.C. Science and Engineering Gold Medal (1985) and the Ernest C. Manning Prize (1987) and, before that, the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship (1979) from NSERC. He also received the following awards: TMS-AIME Charles Herty Award (1973 and 1987), AMS Marcus A. Grossmann Award (1976), TMS Extractive Metallurgy Science Award (1979, 1987, and 1989), ISS John Chipman Award (1979, 1985, and 1996), TMS Champion H. Mathewson Gold Medal (1980), ISS Robert Woolston Hunt Silver Medal (1980, 1983, and 1993), ASM Henry Marion Howe Medal (1980 and 1985), TMS Extractive Metallurgy Technology Award (1983 and 1991), the Williams Prize of the Metals Society (UK) (1983), the ISS Mechanical Working and Steel Processing Conference Meritorious Award (1986 and 1996), the ASM Canadian Council Lectureship (1986), and the CIM Metallurgical Society Alcan Award (1988). In 1981, he delivered the Arnold Markey Lecture to the Steel Bar Mill Association. In 1987, he was made a Distinguished Member of the Iron and Steel Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1988, he became a Fellow of the CIM and, in 1989, he delivered the TMS Extractive Metallurgy Lecture while being awarded Fellowship in TMS. Also in 1989, he was awarded the Izaak Walton Killam Prize for Engineering by the Canada Council, joined the Board of Directors of Sherritt Gordon Ltd., received the Bell Canada Corporate-Higher Education Award and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1990, he received the Meritorious Achievement Award of the Association of Professional Engineers of British Columbia and a UBC Killam Research Prize. In 1992, he was honored with the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation and, in 1993, delivered the Howe Memorial Lecture of the Iron and Steel Society and became Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. In 1994, he presented the D.K.C. MacDonald Memorial Lecture; and in 1995, he was the Inland Steel Lecturer at Northwestern University and received the Ablett Prize of the Institute of Materials. In 1996, he delivered the ASM Edward DeMille Campbell Memorial Lecture and, in 1997, received the AIME Distinguished Service, and he was elected a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Engineering. In June 1997, he received Canada’s highest scientific honor, the Canada Gold Medal in Science and Engineering from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. In 1998, Dr. Brimacombe was posthumously awarded the Benjamin Fairless Award by the AIME and the Inco Medal by the CIM at their centennlal celebration.
Beyond the quest to generate knowledge and train young people, he was driven by the desire to see the fruits of his research implemented in industry. Not satisfied that publications in peer-reviewed journals are an effective means of reaching out to the shop floor, where knowledge implementation creates wealth, he worked tirelessly at the University-Industry interface to make the transfer of knowledge to industry a reality. A gifted speaker, he was renowned for his ability to translate complex research results to changes that are required to the process for improved quality and/or productivity. Thus, he was sought after by the global metallurgical industry and presented over 50 courses in companies in every continent. A course on continuous casting of steel offered annually in Vancouver, under his directorship, attracted participants from around the world. He seized the opportunities provided by the revolution in computer technology to help further the transfer of knowledge, and since the early 1980s drove the development of user-friendly mathematical models as a means of transferring research results to industry. Brimacombe was also instrumental in developing “smart” systems for the transfer of knowledge and spearheaded the development of an expert system for diagnosing defects in steel billets, which is being marketed commercially. A recent project involving Canadian companies is the development of a “Smart Process,” in which knowledge is made to work in the process through the use of an on-line expert system and sensors.
He gave unreservedly of his time to professional societies, which are a vehicle for knowledge transfer and professional development of materials engineers. He was the only professional who was President of the three major societies serving materials engineers in North America: TMS-CIM in Canada in 1985, TMS-AIME in 1993, and ISS-AIME in 1995. His enthusiasm for professional societies was infectious and has led to the initiation of a very dynamic student chapter at UBC.
He served on the Killam Research Fellowships Committee of the Canada Council from 1982 to 1985, where he initiated the Killam Prize in Engineering and worked on other committees of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, the Science Council of British Columbia, and the Canadian Steel Industry Research Association. He served on the Boards of the ISS and TMS in the United States. He served on numerous committees in these societies, including Joint Commission and Board of Review of Metallurgical Transactions, Book Publishing Committee, Awards Committee, Extractive Metallurgy Sub-committee, Nominating Committee, and Long Range Planning Committee. In 1989, he assumed responsibilities as Founding Chairman of the TMS Extraction and Processing Division, in 1993–4 was TMS President, and in 1994–5 was Founding President of the TMS Foundation. In 1990, he was named as an Eminent Scientist to the Board of Directors of the Ontario Centre for Materials Research. In 1995, he was Chairman of the Science Policy Committee of the Royal Society of Canada and was a member of the National Materials Advisory Board (united States). In 1996, he was elected Vice President of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada and was appointed to the Board of the United Engineering Trust. He served on the Board of Trustees of the AIME since 1993; had he lived, he would have become President of the AIME in 1999.
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Brimacombe, J.K. The challenge of quality in continuous casting processes. Metall Mater Trans A 30, 1899–1912 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-999-0001-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-999-0001-4