Buyer guides, technical notes, maintenance checks and RFQ advice for copper mould tubes, water jackets, mould assemblies and dummy bars — the parts that keep a billet caster running.
Billet and bloom casters both use copper moulds, but the tubes differ in section, wall, radius, copper grade and construction. What changes between a 130 mm billet tube and a 200 × 285 bloom tube, and when a tube gives way to a plate mould.
The copper tube only performs as well as the water around it. How the water jacket forms the cooling gap, the flow and velocity the tube needs, why tube and jacket must match, and why ordering them together avoids the most common cooling faults.
Why the bore of a copper mould tube is chrome plated, what 0.08–0.12 mm actually does, when Ni-Cr is worth the extra cost, and how plating thickness relates to tube life and re-plating.
The bore of a mould tube narrows from top to bottom to follow the shrinking shell. Why taper is needed, how the four taper types differ, and how taper is measured and specified.
Thinner walls transfer heat faster; thicker walls stay straight longer and can be re-machined more times. What decides the wall thickness of a copper mould tube, and why 12 mm is the common compromise for billets.
Three copper grades cover nearly every billet caster. Which one you need depends on casting speed, steel grade and campaign length, not on the price list. A practical comparison with typical properties.
R4, R5, R6 and R9 are casting machine radii in metres, not tube grades. The tube must match the machine exactly. What each radius means, which sections go with it, and why you cannot substitute one for another.
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