The life of a steel profile begins with the continuous molding of molten steel through a vertically positioned formative pipe-, block- or slab-mold made from copper.

This copper mold gets cooled externally. It is constructed in a way that makes the outgoing steel profile slightly bend (by a radius of 6-10 meters) and thus can be trundled into a horizontal position.

The mold’s length preferably is between 500 and 1000 mm to ensure the cooling, and therefore shaping of the molten steel. However, if steel goes from its liquid to its solid state, it shrinks. This could mean that it loses contact to the mold wall and breaks through its thin, solid outer skin. To avoid that the mold’s interior has a conicity of 1,1%.

If the casting gets interrupted for productional reasons, the residual steel is left to cool off and solidify. Alternatively, a plug is gets inserted before the next casting. In any case, the casting mold’s wall gets damaged in its solid area.

Over time the damages sum up and the casting mold becomes unusable because the contact to the steel wall becomes insufficient.
A repair for certain, smaller, formats (130 x 140 mm) aren’t worth the repair. They are produced in large quantities and get thrown out after.
If they follow a more complex design or simply have larger dimensions a galvanic repair often proves to be beneficial.
The damaged mold cast gets de-chromed, activated, and receives a coat of 2-5 mm on its inner wall. The damages get filled up with copper and after some machining the cast mold returns to its former glory, having the same inner contour of its original design. This process can be repeated infinitely.