The subject of the invention is a nozzle for introducing liquid metal into a mold for the continuous casting of flat metal products, having two large walls and two side walls, of the type having at its lower end two outlet ports which are made in its lateral wall opposite each other and intended to send the liquid metal each toward a side wall of said mold, and at least two holes made in the bottom of said lower end, wherein a first group of said holes is arranged on one side of a longitudinal plane of symmetry of the nozzle, which plane includes the axes of the outlet ports, and a second group of said holes is arranged on the other side of said plane of symmetry.

Discharge nozzle (10) for continuous casting of slabs having narrow sides between about 30 and about 300 mm. wide, which is employed to distribute liquid metal in a continuous casting mould and is of a type comprising a substantially vertical discharge pipe (11), which is closed at its lower end and includes lateral terminal discharge holes (14) facing towards the narrow sides of the mould and cooperating with means (13) that distribute and deflect the flow of liquid metal, the discharge pipe (11) comprising a first segment (11a) having a downwardly converging circular cross-section and a second downwardly diverging segment (11b) with a cross-section which can be varied progressively from circular to substantially rectangular at least with rounded short sides, the distribution and deflection means (13) consisting of two distribution chambers (15), one per each lateral discharge hole (14), the chambers (15) being open at their upper (16a) and lower (16b) portions and being defined by a sidewall (17) which, at the opposite side of the lateral discharge hole (14), is conformed as a downwardly diverging deflector (18) forming an angle ".alpha." with the vertical between 10.degree. and 35.degree., the lateral discharge holes (14) being adjacent to a bottom end wall (12) and having an overall section about equal to the section of the outlet of the second segment (11b) of the discharge pipe (11), each distribution chamber (15) defining an upper discharge outlet (16a) and a lower discharge outlet (16b).

An arrangement and conformation of the discharge openings and channels of a continuous-casting nozzle, together with a specific external profile of the body of the nozzle itself, enable slabs of any thickness, in particular from medium to thin ones, to be cast, which have excellent surface quality and are practically free from inclusions and blowholes.

A flow-vectored downspout includes a pouring tube and a flow diffuser arranged on an end thereof. The flow diffuser includes horizontal slots disposed toward the faces of an ingot during a continuous casting process with horizontal and angled slots disposed toward the ingot sides. The flow diffuser also includes at its bottom a domed diverter which facilitates transition of vertical molten metal flow through the pouring tube into a substantially horizontal flow pattern for discharge into a mold cavity through the arrangement of horizontal and angled slots. The particular arrangement of slots provides distribution to all areas of the ingot to be cast with minimal turbulence. The flow-vectored downspout is especially adapted for direct chill or electromagnetic casting without the use of a channel bag or the like. A continuous casting method using the downspout is also provided.

The pouring tube includes a discharge portion having discharge ports in its wall for splitting the flow of melt, and for directing the various portions of the flow into the surrounding melt as melt streams emerging at angles to the outer surface of the pouring tube. The angles of the streams to the pouring tube are selected such that the energy of the streams is dissipated in the surrounding melt before the streams impinge against a wall of the mold. The pouring tube also includes seals for temporarily preventing the emergence of selected streams in order to avoid excessive splashing and/or material build up on the walls of the mold during the start-up phase of its operation.