Continuous casting of premium steel grades requires a process with a high degree of precision and the knowledge about the mechanical behavior of the steel at temperatures above 800 C. Herein, several origins of effects which lead to unwanted impairment of the hot strand shell like segregations, size, amount, kind, and distribution of precipitates as well as porosities from a metallurgical point of view are dealt. The systematic description of potential defect reasons helps to predict harmful operation parameters in context with the chemical composition of steel grades. A compilation of results from experiments at Department of Ferrous Metallurgy of RWTH Aachen University is complemented by a literature review. It is focused on the high temperature ductility and the underlying mechanisms inside the solidifying steel. Finally, potential measures to adjust the continuous casting process to prevent defects are elaborated.

The prediction of the solidification structure by means of calculations and simulation programs is of great importance for controlling the quality of continuous casting (CC) semis. Plant components, different process control options, and the chemical composition of the as‐cast product require optimized coordination of those factors to be able to set the optimum structure. As the simulation of temperature fields to predict the crater end during final solidification is already state of the art, the precise simulation of the solidification zones in CC semis is the important next step. Therefore, a circular arc caster is simulated with nucleation, grain growth, and sedimentation considered. The asymmetric as‐cast structure is calculated with a good accuracy providing a good base for the implementation of microsegregation in the next development step.

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