EP0711214A1

EP0711214A1 - Continuous casting ingot mould

Info

Publication number: EP0711214A1
Application number: EP94924799A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rudy Petry; Michel Rinaldi
Original assignee: Paul Wurth SA
Current assignee: Paul Wurth SA
Priority date: 1993-07-30
Filing date: 1994-07-23
Publication date: 1996-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 2014-07-23
Also published as: KR100286239B1; DE69402205T2; PL312745A1; US5676194A; EP0711214B1; CA2168354A1; BR9407336A; PL178762B1; CN1042404C; ATE150347T1; CZ284129B6; LU88389A1; CZ26496A3; AU685836B2; KR960703691A; JPH09500832A; WO1995003904A1; AU7495594A; ES2100734T3; RO119933B1

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/EP94/02442 Sec. 371 Date Feb. 28, 1996 Sec. 102(e) Date Feb. 28, 1996 PCT Filed Jul. 23, 1994 PCT Pub. No. WO95/03904 PCT Pub. Date Feb. 9, 1995A description is given of an ingot mould for a continuous casting plant comprising an ingot mould tube (12) and an ingot mould body (22). The ingot mould tube (12) is movable axially with respect to the ingot mould body (22). Sealing elements, preferably metal diaphragms (88, 90) allow an axial displacement of the ingot mould tube (12) with respect to the ingot mould body (22), while ensuring the sealing of a sealed chamber (23) containing the circuit for cooling the ingot mould tube (12). A device for generating mechanical oscillations, preferably a hydraulic cylinder (46), is connected to the ingot mould tube (12) through the intermediary of a lever (54) supported by the ingot mould body (22).

Description

The present invention relates to an ingot mold for a continuous casting installation. Such a continuous casting ingot mold comprises a mold tube defining an axial flow channel for a molten metal and a mold body, surrounding the mold tube over at least part of its length. This mold body contains a cooling circuit of the mold body.

In a continuous casting ingot mold, the mold tube is vigorously cooled by the cooling circuit integrated in the mold body. Thus the molten metal solidifies on contact with the internal wall of the ingot mold tube to form a peripheral crust. It should be noted that an attachment or bonding of this solidified peripheral crust to the internal wall of the ingot mold tube would produce a tearing of the peripheral crust. In order to avoid this risk, it is known to subject the mold to an oscillatory movement along the casting axis.

To produce such an oscillatory movement, it is known to support the mold on a support structure, called an oscillation table, which is provided with a device generating mechanical oscillations. This oscillation table then transmits to the mold an oscillatory movement oriented along the casting axis.

In order to realize the problem inherent in such installations, it should be noted that an ingot mold for casting steel billets has - with its ingot mold tube, its ingot mold body, its cooling circuit filled with a liquid cooling and possibly an electromagnetic inductor to stir the molten metal - easily a mass of the order of 3 tonnes. This mass must be able to confer oscillations of an amplitude of a few millimeters with a frequency of the order of 5 Hz and more. It is therefore necessary to use a device generating oscillations very powerful mechanical; all the more since this device must not only overcome the inertia of the mold itself, but also the inertia of the structure of the support structure, as well as the friction forces between the internal wall of the mold tube and the metal in fusion. The high powers involved in producing the oscillations of the mold, have the harmful effects of noisy shocks and vibrations detrimental to the mechanical strength of certain elements of the mold. It has also been proposed to support the ingot mold in a support using springs, thus creating a damped harmonic oscillator, the mass of which corresponds to the mass of the ingot mold. To produce forced oscillations in such a mechanical system, it suffices to apply a much weaker force to the mold, since one can take advantage of the phenomenon of resonance at the natural frequency of the system. In practice, the implementation of such a solution can however pose problems of dimensioning and location of the springs. The latter must indeed support the high weight of the mold, while giving the system the desired elastic characteristic.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ingot mold which opposes the device generating mechanical oscillations a substantially reduced mass of inertia.

This object is achieved by a mold for a continuous casting installation which comprises: a mold tube having an internal wall and an external wall, said internal wall defining an axial flow channel for a molten metal; an ingot mold body surrounding said external wall of the ingot mold tube over at least part of its length so as to define with the latter a sealed chamber containing a cooling circuit of the ingot mold tube; and a device generating mechanical oscillations, and which is characterized in that the mold tube is axially movable relative to the mold body; in that the mold body is connected to the mold tube by means of sealing elements allowing axial movement of the mold tube relative to the mold body, while ensuring the tightness of said sealed chamber; and in that said mechanical oscillation generating device is connected to the ingot mold tube so as to be able to transmit to the latter an axial oscillatory movement relative to the ingot mold body.

In an ingot mold according to the invention, the mass in oscillatory movement is substantially reduced to the mass of the mold tube. It will be appreciated that the mass of the ingot mold tube represents little more than 5% of the total mass of the ingot mold. -The most massive elements of the mold, namely the body of the mold with its cooling circuit filled with a coolant and, if necessary, the electromagnetic inductor are stationary on a support frame and must not be set in motion by the mechanical oscillation generating device. This considerably reduces the powers involved to produce a relative oscillatory movement between the internal wall of the ingot mold tube and the peripheral crust of the cast product. This results in a weakening of the forces and vibrations that the continuous casting installation must undergo; hence an increase in the lifespan of some of its elements. In addition, the mold body and the inductor, which no longer participate in the oscillatory movement, are no longer subjected to dynamic stresses, which also has a favorable influence on their lifespan. It will also be appreciated the absence of an oscillating support structure for the mold significantly reduces the investment and maintenance costs.

The mold body is preferably designed so as to define at its upper and lower end a passage opening for the mold tube. The sealing elements are then arranged in these two passage openings, so as to delimit axially in the mold body a sealed annular chamber which can be pressurized by the coolant. It is then advantageous to dimension the cross section of the upper passage opening larger than the cross section of the lower passage opening. This difference in section in fact results in a hydrostatic force on the ingot mold tube which is oriented in the opposite direction to the flow of the molten metal. This hydrostatic force makes it possible to compensate for the weight of the ingot mold tube, as well as the friction that the molten metal exerts on the internal wall of the ingot mold tube. It will therefore be appreciated that this solution makes it possible to further reduce the powers necessary to produce said oscillatory movement.

It is possible to provide in the mold body different types of cooling circuits of the mold tube. In a preferred embodiment, the mold body includes an inner guide jacket which surrounds the mold tube and forms therewith a first annular space defining a first passage section for a coolant. An outer jacket surrounds said inner guide jacket and forms therewith a second annular space, defining a second passage section for the coolant which is substantially larger than said first passage section. In a first variant, the inner guide liner is rigidly fixed to the outer wall of the mold body and forms a sheath in which the mold tube can slide axially.

This inner guide jacket, which has a relatively low weight, can however also be part of the mold tube. In this case it is set in oscillation together with the mold tube. The ingot mold tube advantageously comprises an inner tube, which defines the flow channel for the molten metal and which is most often a copper tube, and a cage which surrounds this copper tube. This cage is rigidly and tightly fixed at its upper end to the copper tube and has at its lower end a guide opening in which the copper tube is tightly guided, so that it can expand axially downwards. The inner guide jacket for the coolant is then supported by this cage surrounding the copper tube. Said sealing elements include lower sealing elements which are connected between the lower end of the cage and the mold body and upper sealing elements which are connected between the upper end of the cage and the body of the mold. ingot mold. This is a solution where the moving masses are slightly higher, but which has the significant advantage that the mold tube and the inner guide liner form a fairly rigid unit. In addition, the mold tube itself can expand freely in the axial direction.

Different embodiments are possible for the sealing elements. The latter may for example include an axial bellows compensator which is connected between a flange secured to the mold tube and a flange secured to the mold body. In a preferred embodiment, the sealing elements comprise at least one elastically deformable membrane. The latter is located in a plane transverse to the casting axis. It is a particularly simple execution which ensures a perfect seal, does not require any maintenance and allows to realize a very compact construction of the mold. It has been found that a multi-sheet metal membrane is perfectly suited to the present use. This does not however exclude the use other materials for forming the membrane, for example membranes made of a reinforced elastomer.

It would be possible to connect a device generating axial mechanical oscillations directly to the ingot mold tube, that is to say without an intermediate connection mechanism. An advantageous solution consists in providing a lever as a means of mechanical connection between the device generating mechanical oscillations and the ingot mold tube. This then comprises an intermediate articulation by means of which it is supported by the mold body, a first lever arm connected to the device generating mechanical oscillations and a second lever arm which supports the mold tube.

This embodiment makes it possible to install the device generating mechanical oscillations laterally next to the mold, where it does not interfere and where it can be protected against splashes of molten metal. Since the mold tube is supported by the lever arm, itself supported by the mold body, it is not necessary to provide other means for supporting the mold tube. In particular, said sealing elements must not fulfill the function of supporting the mold tube in the mold body.

The ingot mold tube is suspended in the lever arm preferably by means of two pins housed in a forked arm with two branches. A particularly compact embodiment of the ingot mold is obtained when said intermediate articulation of the lever arm, the two pins and the second lever arm are located inside said sealed chamber. The second lever arm must then cross the outer jacket of the mold body in a leaktight manner.

The seal between the second lever arm and the outer jacket of the mold body is advantageously achieved by means of a bellows compensator, which is preferably installed inside said sealed chamber. In this context it will be appreciated that all the elements that are installed in this room sealed in the coolant undergo some lubrication by the latter and are also less exposed to the risk of damage by molten metal. Leaf springs preferably connected between the mold body and the mold tube guide the latter axially and prevent the sealing elements from transmitting excessive transverse forces. Additional advantages and characteristics of the invention will emerge from the detailed description of advantageous embodiments, presented below, by way of illustration, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: - Figure 1 shows a cross section through through an ingot mold according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a cross section through the ingot mold of Figure 1 along the cutting plane (2-2) marked in Figure 1; - Figures 3 and 4 show, in longitudinal sections, schematically details of two different embodiments of an ingot mold according to the invention;

- Figure 5 shows a cross section through the mold of Figure 3, through the cutting plane (5-5); Figure 6 shows a schematic cross section through an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 show an ingot mold 10 which can be used for example for the continuous casting of metal steel billets. It comprises an ingot mold tube 12 having an internal wall 14 and an external wall 16. The internal wall 14 defines a flow channel 18 for the molten steel. Reference 20 marks the central axis of this channel, which can be straight or curved. Most often the ingot mold tube is a thick-walled copper tube. The internal section of this tube defines the section of the cast product. In Figure 2 a square section is represented; this section could however also be rectangular, circular or have any other shape. The arrow marked with the reference 21 indicates the direction of flow of the molten steel through the ingot mold tube 12.

The ingot mold tube 12 must be cooled vigorously in order to cause solidification of the molten steel in contact with its internal wall 14. To this end, it is surrounded, normally over its entire height, by an ingot mold body 22 which contains, in a sealed chamber 23, a cooling circuit for the external wall 16 of the mold tube 12.

The cooling circuit shown in Figure

I is known per se. An inner guide sleeve 24 surrounds the mold tube 12 over almost its entire height and forms around the external wall 16 of the mold tube 12 a first annular space 26, with a very narrow annular passage section. An outer jacket 28 of the mold body 22 surrounds the inner guide jacket 24 and forms with the latter a second annular space 30, which surrounds the first annular space 26 and defines a substantially larger annular passage section. A coolant supply circuit is represented schematically by the arrow 32. The coolant enters through an annular supply chamber 34, located on the side of the lower end of the mold 10, in the first annular space 26 .

It crosses the latter at high speed and against the current relative to the direction of casting 21, to exit into the second annular space 30. It is evacuated outside the mold body 22 by an evacuation circuit, which is represented schematically by the arrow 36. It remains to be noted in this context that the inner guide jacket 24 is provided with an external flange 38 which is tightly fixed on an internal counter-flange 40 of the external jacket 28. In this way the inner guide sleeve 24 is rigidly supported by the sleeve outside 28 of the mold body 22, and the annular supply chamber 34 is at the same time sealed in separation from said second annular space 30.

In Figure 1 we see that the mold body 22 is provided at its lower end with a peripheral base 42 which defines a passage opening 43 for the mold tube 12. With this lower peripheral base 42 the mold body is supported on a fixed support frame, represented schematically by two beams identified by the reference 44.

A mechanical oscillation generating device 46 is supported on the support frame next to the mold body 22 (the support of the mechanical oscillation generating device 46 on the supporting frame 44 is not shown in Figure 1). It is for example a hydraulic piston provided with a hydraulic circuit known per se, which is capable of communicating to a piston rod 48 a reciprocating movement of an amplitude of a few millimeters and a frequency of a few hertz. However, it could also be a rotary motor provided with an eccentric which produces mechanical oscillations. The piston rod 48 would in this case be replaced by a connecting rod. The hydraulic piston however has the advantage of allowing easy and flexible adjustment of the amplitude, frequency and shape of the mechanical oscillations produced.

In Figure 2 we see that the mold tube 12 is provided at its upper end with two pins 50 and 52. These are arranged on two opposite sides of the outer wall 16 of the mold tube 12, so that their axes are aligned and perpendicular to the axis 20 of the mold tube 12. Using these pins 50 and 52 the mold tube is supported by a forked arm 56. The two pins 50, 52 are more precisely articulated in a first branch 58, respectively a second branch 60 of the forked arm 56, so as to define a pivot axis 61 of the mold tube 12 which is perpendicular to the direction of casting. It will be noted that the two pins 50, 52 are located in said second annular space 30 defined between the inner guide jacket 24 on one side and the outer jacket 28 on the other side. The forked arm 56 is part of a lever 54 mounted in the mold body 22. This lever 54 comprises in the second annular space 30 a tilting axis 63 which is parallel to the pivoting axis 61 of the mold tube 12. This tilting axis 63 is advantageously embodied by two pivots 64 and 66 which are mounted symmetrically on the mold body

22. Each of the branches 58, 60 of the forked arm 56 is then provided with a cylindrical housing 68, 70 for one of the two pivots 64, 66. It will be noted that each of the pivots 64, 66 can be mounted from outside the ingot mold body

22, to allow easy assembly and disassembly of the lever 54. To this end the outer jacket 28 of the mold body 22 is provided with two support blocks 72, 74 in which the pivots 64 and 66 are housed in a through bore. Each pivot 64, 66 is provided with a fixing flange 76, 78 which is fixed by means of screws (not shown) on the support block 72, 74. A joint between the flange 76, 78 and the support block 72, 74 ensures, preferably together with one or more O-rings in the passage bore of the support block 72, 74, the sealing of this assembly.

On the side opposite to the forked arm 56, the lever 54 comprises a second lever arm 80 which passes in leaktight manner through the outer jacket 28 of the mold body 22. This sealed passage is preferably carried out using a bellows compensator 82, which is tightly connected with its first end to the outer jacket 28 of the mold body 22 and with its second end to a shoulder between the second lever arm 80. Outside the second annular space 30, preferably in the immediate vicinity of the outer jacket 28 of the body of the mold 22, the second lever arm 80 is connected by means of a cylindrical articulation 84, with an axis parallel to the pivot axis 63 of the lever 54, to the piston rod 48. It will be noted that the two pins 50, 52, the forked arm 56, the pivot axis 63, most of the second lever arm 80 and the bellows compensator 82 are integrated in the second annular space 30. This embodiment not only makes it possible to have a compact size of the mold 10, but also ensures effective protection of these elements. It will also be noted that all of these elements are immersed in the coolant, which ensures a certain lubrication of the joints.

The back and forth movement of the piston rod 48 is transmitted by the lever 54 to the mold tube 12. The latter is mounted in the mold body 22 and connected to the latter so as to be able to follow the oscillatory movement of the lever 54. It follows that the mold tube 12 is subjected to a forced oscillatory movement relative to the mold body 22 which remains stationary. The moving mass therefore corresponds to the mass of the ingot mold tube 12 which is generally at least twenty times smaller than the total mass of the ingot mold, which comprises, outside the ingot mold tube

12, the mold body 22 filled with a coolant and possibly an electromagnetic inductor 86. The latter, which is used for stirring the molten steel, is integrated in a manner known per se into said second annular space 30 of the body ingot mold

22, in which it is supported by the outer jacket

28 of the mold body 22. This inductor 86 is therefore also immobile relative to the mold tube which is subject to oscillatory movement.

The outer jacket 28 is connected, at these two axial ends, in a sealed manner to the external wall 16 of the mold body 22 by means of sealing elements which allow an axial displacement of the mold tube 12 relative to the mold body. 22. These sealing elements preferably comprise a lower membrane 88, delimiting said sealed chamber 23 of the ingot mold body 22 axially at its lower end, and an upper membrane 90, delimiting the latter axially at its upper end. These are annular membranes contained in a plane transverse to the casting axis and elastically deformable in a direction perpendicular to their surface. Multi-sheet metal membranes may for example be suitable for this use.

In Figure 1 we see that the lower annular membrane 88 is connected on one side with its outer peripheral edge to the peripheral base 42 of the mold body 22 and on the other side with its inner edge to a lower flange 92. This the latter is made integral with the lower end of the mold tube 12 by means of keys 94, 96, which are housed in a groove 98 of the mold tube 12. The keys 94 and 96, as well as the inner edge of the lower membrane 88 are fixed by clamping between the flange 92 and a counter-flange 100, which is fixed by screws to the flange 92. Seals provide sealing for this assembly. The outer edge of the membrane 88 is fixed by clamping between the peripheral base 42 and a counter-flange 110. Seals provide sealing between the membrane 88 and the peripheral base 42, respectively the counter-flange 110. The mounting of the upper membrane 90 is carried out in a similar manner. A counter-flange 114 fixes the outer edge of the upper membrane 90 on an upper ring 116 secured to the outer jacket 28 of the mold body 22. This upper ring 116 defines an upper passage opening 117 for the mold tube 12. A counter flange 118 fixes the inner edge of the upper membrane 90 to an upper flange 120 of the mold tube 12. The upper flange 120 is made integral with the upper end of the mold tube 12 in the same way as the lower flange 90. The two pins 50 and 52 are moreover advantageously supported by said upper flange 120 (cf. FIG. 1). It will be noted that it is advantageous to provide for the lower passage opening 42, defined by the lower base 42, a smaller (or projected) cross section than for the upper passage opening 117 defined by the upper ring 116 When the sealed chamber 23 is pressurized, this results in a hydrostatic force applied to the mold tube 12 which is directed in the opposite direction to the pouring direction 21. Like the pressure which prevails inside the chamber annular supply 34, respectively inside the 2nd annular space 30 is of the order of a few bars, a difference of a few centimeters between the internal diameter of the upper crown 116 and the internal diameter of the lower base is sufficient 42 to compensate by said hydrostatic force both the weight of the mold tube 12, as the friction that the cast metal exerts on the internal wall 14 of the mold tube 1 2. As a result, the forces necessary to oscillate the mold tube 12 relative to the mold body 22 are almost reduced to the forces necessary to deform the membranes 88 and 90 and to overcome the friction, between the internal wall 14 of the tube of mold 12 and the cast product, mainly due to the displacement of the tube of mold 12. Figures 3 to 5 provide additional information about the mounting of the annular membranes. In Figure 3 we see that the lower and upper membranes 88 'and 90' are both embedded with their inner edge at the level of the mold tube 12, while their outer edge can move slightly between the base 42 (respectively 116 ), and the counter flange 110 (respectively 114). This method of fixing the membranes 88 ′ and 90 ′ increases their flexibility and reduces the transverse forces which they have to transmit from the mold tube 12 to the mold body 22. For the transmission of these transverse forces, separate elements are preferably used, for example one or more leaf springs connected between the tube ingot mold 12 and the ingot mold body 22. FIG. 5 shows by way of example such a leaf spring 122, which has three branches spaced 45 ° apart. This element 122 can easily be deformed perpendicular to the plane of the drawing and at the same time has a high resistance to a tensile force. It is preferably mounted on the side of the lower end of the ingot mold tube 12, since the upper end is already rigidly supported in the forked arm 56 of the lever arm 54. In addition, this element 122 is mounted so as to be tensile stress. In Figure 5 the arrow 124 shows by way of example the horizontal component of the tensile force which the cast product extracted from the ingot mold tube 12 exerts on the lower end of the latter. This force, which is far from negligible, is transmitted by the element 122 of the mold tube 12 to the mold body 22; the membrane 88 'is not involved in this transmission.

In the case where the axis of the ingot mold defines an arc of a circle, it is advantageous to orient the element 122 so that the extension of its neutral fiber passes through the center of curvature of this arc of a circle. The pivot axis 61 of the ingot mold tube 12 in the forked arm 56, the pivot axis 63 of the lever 54 and the axis of the cylindrical joint 84 are in this case arranged so that they are cut every three by a straight line also passing through said center of curvature. It follows that the ingot mold tube oscillates along a trajectory which substantially follows the curvature of the product cast at the level of the ingot mold tube. In Figure 4 we see that the upper membrane 90 '' is embedded with these two edges. This does not cause major drawbacks, since the upper end of the mold tube 12 transmits transverse forces through the pins 50, 52 directly to the lever 54 (see Figure 2). In this Figure 4 there is also shown, schematically, annular support elements 126, 128 of the membranes 88 '' and 90 ''. The purpose of these support elements 126 and 128, which are for example integral with the tube ingot mold 12, is to limit the deformation of the membranes 88 '' and 90 '' which is due to the pressure of the coolant in the sealed chamber 23.

Figure 6 shows a particularly interesting variant of an ingot mold 210 according to the invention. An ingot mold tube 212 includes a copper tube 214 which defines the axial flow channel 18 for the molten metal. In this alternative embodiment, the copper tube 214 is surrounded by a cage 216. This comprises stiffening elements 222 connecting an upper flange 218 and a lower flange 220. The upper flange 218 is rigidly fixed to the upper end of the copper tube 214. The lower flange 220 surrounds the copper tube 214 in a leaktight manner, but is not rigidly fixed to the latter. As a result, the copper tube 214 can expand axially through the flange 220 when it undergoes thermal expansion. A seal, for example a VITON ® seal or an O-ring resistant to high temperatures, seals between the lower flange 220 and the copper tube 214.

The cage 216 supports a guide jacket 224 which defines a narrow annular passage space 226 for the coolant around the copper tube 214. This guide jacket 224 is provided with a collar 228 which cooperates with an annular partition wall 230 of the mold body 22, to delimit in the mold 210 an annular supply chamber 234 of the annular space 226. It will be noted that the collar 228 and the partition wall 230 are connected together by a sealing element 236 which necessarily allows their relative displacement along the casting axis. In a preferred embodiment, the sealing element 236 comprises a ring which is fixed in leaktight manner to the partition wall 230 and which defines a labyrinth seal in an annular cavity of the collar 228. This labyrinth seal could, if necessary, be replaced by one or more O-rings. An upper 90 and lower 88 sealing membrane connect the upper 218 and lower 220 flanges to the mold body 22. It will be noted that in the execution of FIG. 6, the outer and inner edges of the two membranes 90, 88 are embedded rigidly. The methods of fixing the membranes described with the aid of Figures 3 and 4 remain of course valid alternatives.

The copper tube 214, the cage 216 and the jacket for guiding the coolant 224 define, in the embodiment according to FIG. 6, a fairly rigid assembly, which is movable as a unit axially with respect to the mold body 22. This the assembly is supported by a lever arm 254 (represented in FIG. 6 by its axis) using the two pins 250, 252 which form part of the upper flange 218.

Remain to note that in the execution of Figure 6, the coolant enters the annular supply chamber 234, passes at high speed through the narrow annular space 226 where it undergoes a significant pressure drop, and comes out of the ingot mold after passing through the annular space 240, which can house, for example, an electromagnetic stirrer (not shown). Since the pressure in the annular supply chamber 234 is higher than the pressure in the annular chamber 240, the hydrostatic pressure which is exerted on the collar 228 contributes to supporting the assembly of copper tube 214, cage 216 and jacket guidance of the coolant 224. Even if an embodiment according to Figure 6 has the disadvantage that the mass to be oscillated is slightly greater, it has the advantage that the copper tube 214 is less mechanically stressed than the tube copper 14.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Mold for a continuous casting installation comprising: a mold tube (12) having an internal wall (14) and an external wall (16), said internal wall (14) defining an axial flow channel (18 ) for a molten metal; an ingot mold body (22) surrounding said external wall (16) of the ingot mold tube (12) over at least part of its length so as to define therewith a sealed chamber (23) containing a cooling circuit of the ingot mold tube (12); and a mechanical oscillation generating device (46), characterized in that the mold tube (12) is axially movable relative to the mold body (22); in that the mold body (22) is connected to the mold tube (12) by means of sealing elements (88, 90) allowing axial movement of the mold tube (12) relative to the mold body ( 22), while ensuring the tightness of said sealed chamber

(23); and in that said mechanical oscillation generating device (46) is connected to the mold tube (12) so as to be able to transmit to the latter an axial oscillatory movement relative to the mold body (22).

2. Mold according to claim 1, characterized in that the mold body (22) comprises an upper passage opening (117) and a lower passage opening (43) for the mold tube (12), in that said sealing elements (88, 90) are arranged in these two passage openings (43, 117) so as to delimit in the mold body (22) around the mold tube (12) a sealed annular chamber (23) capable of be pressurized by a coolant, in that the cross section of the upper passage opening (117) is larger than the cross section of the lower passage opening (43), so that a hydrostatic force results on the mold tube ( 12) which is oriented in the opposite direction to the flow of the molten metal.

3. Mold according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the mold body (22) comprises an inner guide jacket (24) which surrounds the mold tube (12) and forms with the latter a first annular space ( 26) defining a first passage section for a coolant, and an outer jacket (28), which surrounds said inner guide jacket (24) and forms with the latter a second annular space (30) defining a second passage section for the coolant which is substantially greater than said first passage section.

4. Ingot mold according to claim 3 characterized in that the inner guide jacket (24) is rigidly fixed to the mold body (22).

5. Mold according to claim 3 characterized in that the inner guide liner (224) is part of the mold tube (212).

6. Ingot mold according to claim 5, characterized in that the ingot mold tube (212) comprises a copper tube (214) ^' defining said axial flow channel (18) for molten metal and a cage (216) which extends along the copper tube (214) and which is rigidly and tightly fixed at its upper end to the copper tube (214), in that this cage (216) has at its lower end a guide opening in which the copper tube (214) is tightly guided, so that it can expand axially downwards, and in that a coolant guide jacket (224) is supported by this cage (216) .

7. Ingot mold according to claim 6, characterized in that said sealing elements (88, 90) comprise lower sealing elements (88) connected between the lower end of the cage (216) and the mold body ( 22) and upper sealing elements (90) connected between the upper end of the cage (216) and the mold body (22).

8. Ingot mold according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the cage (216) is provided with a collar (228), in that the mold body 22 is provided with an annular partition wall (230), in that the collar (228) and the annular separation wall (230) delimit in the mold (210) an annular supply chamber (234) for a coolant, and in that the collar (228) and the annular partition wall (230) are connected by a sealing element (236) which tolerates their relative movement along the casting axis.

9. Ingot mold according to any one of claims 1 to, characterized in that said sealing elements comprise at least one elastically deformable membrane (88, 90).

10. Ingot mold according to claim 9, characterized in that the membrane (88, 90) is a metallic membrane with multiple sheets.

11. Ingot mold according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized by a lever (54) provided with an intermediate articulation (63) by means of which it is supported by the mold body (22), said lever (54 ) comprising a first lever arm (56) supporting the ingot mold tube (12) at its upper end and a second lever arm (80) connected to the mechanical oscillation generating device (46).

12. Ingot mold according to claim 11, characterized in that the ingot mold tube (12) is provided at its upper end with two pins (50, 52); and in that said second lever arm (56) is a forked arm with two branches (58, 60), each of the pins (50, 52) being supported by one of these branches (58, 60).

13. Ingot mold according to claims 3, 11 and 12, characterized in that said intermediate articulation (63) of the lever arm, the two pins (50, 52) and the first lever arm (56) are located inside of said sealed annular chamber (23), and in that said second lever arm (80) passes through said outer jacket (28) of the mold body (22) and is connected thereto in sealed manner by means of a bellows compensator (82).

14. Mold according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that said sealed chamber (23) contains an electromagnetic inductor (86) which is supported by the mold body (22).

15. Ingot mold according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the device generating mechanical oscillations (46) is a hydraulic piston.

16. Ingot mold according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized by leaf springs (122) connected between the mold tube (± 2) and the mold body (22).