The Interrelation between Casting Size, Steel Grade, and Temperature Evolution Along the Mold Length and at the Strand Surface during Continuous Casting of Steel

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)The present work focuses on the investigation of thermal profiles in copper molds and at the strand surface during continuous casting of different steel grades in an industrial plant. Thermocouples embedded in the mold walls were used to measure temperatures along the mold length. Noncontact pyrometers positioned at different locations along the machine monitored the strand surface temperatures. The experimental results permitted an interrelation between steel grade, mold section (240x240mm, 180x180mm, and 150x150mm), and mold wall, and strand surface temperatures to be established as a function of casting operating conditions. It is shown that the mold outer face (external curved wall) has the highest temperature distribution from the meniscus to the bottom of the mold followed by the inner and side faces, respectively. The deepest meniscus is shown to occur for the 150-mold, and the 180-mold is shown to have the highest temperature profiles along the mold length in all faces examined. Low carbon steels present the highest strand surface temperatures along the machine when compared with those of medium and high carbon steels. When the steel composition is parameterized, it is shown that the 150-mold has the smaller strand surface temperature close to the mold exit when compared with the 180 and 240 molds, and it is shown that this behavior changes after the unbending point.261113126Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Promoting remyelination: utilizing a viral model of demyelination to assess cell-based therapies

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS. While a broad range of therapeutics effectively reduce the incidence of focal white matter inflammation and plaque formation for patients with relapse-remitting forms of MS, a challenge within the field is to develop therapies that allow for axonal protection and remyelination. In the last decade, growing interest has focused on utilizing neural precursor cells (NPCs) to promote remyelination. To understand how NPCs function in chronic demyelinating environments, several excellent pre-clinical mouse models have been developed. One well accepted model is infection of susceptible mice with neurotropic variants of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) that undergo chronic demyelination exhibiting clinical and histopathologic similarities to MS patients. Combined with the possibility that an environmental agent such as a virus could trigger MS, the MHV model of demyelination presents a relevant mouse model to assess the therapeutic potential of NPCs transplanted into an environment in which inflammatory-mediated demyelination is established