Large eddy simulation of various EMBr effects on the fluid flow, heat transfer and solidification process in an ultra-high speed thin slab casting mould with multi-port SEN

The thin slab casting (TSC) is a breakthrough near-net-shape technique for flat products accompanied by rapid casting and solidification rates. The TSC quality hinges on the turbulence, super-heat flow and growth of the solidified shell. The electromagnetic brake (EMBr) is commonly applied to control the fresh melt flow after feeding through a submerged entry nozzle (SEN). Numerical modelling is a perfect tool to investigate the multiphase phenomena in the continuous casting (CC). The presented study considers the heat transfer through the solid shell and water-cooled copper mold including the averaged thermal resistance of the slag skin and the air gap coupled with the turbulent flow and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model using an in-house code developed inside the open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package OpenFOAM®. The model is applied to investigate different undesired asymmetric melt flow issues: (i) with the misaligned or (ii) partially blocked SEN; (iii) caused by the mean flow fluctuations with the natural frequencies; (iv) related to the oscillations of the fresh melt jets for the specific SEN designs and casting regimes. The variation of the flow pattern and superheat distribution is studied and presented for different scenarios both with and without applied EMBr.

The numerical methods based on the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) equations are robust tools to model the turbulent flow for the industrial processes. They allow an acceptable grid resolution along with reasonable calculation time. Herein, the URANS approach is validated against a water model experiment for the special single port submerged entry nozzle (SEN) design used in the thin slab casting (TSC) process. A 1-to-2 under-scaled water model was constructed, including the SEN, mold, and strand Plexiglas segments. Paddle-type sensors were instrumented to measure the submeniscus velocity supported by videorecording of the dye injections to provide both qualitative and quantitative verification of the SEN flow simulations. Two advanced URANS-type models (realizable k–ε and shear stress transport k–ω) were applied to calculate velocity pattern on meshes with various resolutions. An oscillating single jet flow was detected in the experiment, which the URANS simulations initially struggled to reflect. The dimensionless analysis of the mesh properties and corresponding adjustment of the boundary layers inside the SEN allowed to resolve the flow pattern. The performed fast Fourier transform (FFT) verified a good numerical prediction of the flow frequency spectrum. The corresponding simulation strategy is proposed for the industrial CC process using the URANS approach.

Ultrahigh‐speed casting is the most remarkable feature of billet high‐efficiency continuous casting. The transient fluid flow, heat transfer, and solidification behavior under different casting speeds, submerged entry nozzle (SEN) parameters, and mold electromagnetic stirring (M‐EMS) are investigated using a 3D transient mathematical model. The results show that a typical roll flow pattern is generated for all casting speeds, while a third small recirculation zone developed near the solidified shell at the casting speed of 6.0 m min−1. When the casting speed increases, the impact depth of the molten steel increases from 0.748 to 0.844 m, the velocity and level fluctuation at the steel/slag interface increases, the high‐temperature zone moves downward, and the shell thickness is reduced from 16.2 to 11.1 mm. As the SEN inner diameter and immersion depth increases, the impact depth increases, the velocity and level fluctuation at the steel/slag interface decreases, and the shell thickness at the mold exit is ≈11.0 mm. When the SEN immersion depth and inner diameter are 120 and 40 mm, respectively, the flow and temperature fields in the mold are the most appropriate. In addition, the M‐EMS have a great effect on the fluid flow and heat transfer behavior.

Continuous casting (CC) became one of the dominant steel production technologies throughout last decades. Better quality, energy savings and high production rates are the main aims of the research especially in the field of the thin slab casting (TSC). The electromagnetic brake (EMBr) is applied to control the highly turbulent flow after the fresh melt is fed through the ports of a submerged entry nozzle (SEN). The numerical modelling is a perfect tool to investigate the multiphase phenomena of the turbulent flow in the CC mold, heat transfer and solidification coupled with the effects of the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Traditionally the heat transfer in the CC mold during the numerical simulations is predefined by the heat flux profile which could be taken from the plant measurements, published data, or is described by the semi-empirical formulas. In all these cases the heat extraction in the CC mold cavity is strictly predefined and is not significantly influenced by the transient flow behavior. Moreover, the heat flux, used in a simulation, is frequently measured for the different flow pattern inside the mold. That is especially important when the EMBr effects on the solid shell formation are investigated. Thereby, the presented study considers the coupled heat transfer in the water-cooled copper mold, including the averaged thermal resistance between the slab and mold, implemented using OpenFOAM® open-source CFD software. The melt flow, the temperature field, and the induced electric current density are compared between the traditional approach (the applied heat flux) and the modelled heat transfer in the TSC mold. Different scenarios are studied without and with the applied magnetic field.

Influences of casting speed and sen depth on fluid flow in the funnel type mold of a thin slab caster

Transient turbulent flow in the mold region during continuous casting of steel is related to many quality problems, such as surface defects and slag entrainment. This work applies an efficient multi-GPU based code, CUFlow, to perform large eddy simulations (LES) of the turbulent flow in a domain that includes the slide gate, SEN, and mold region. The computations were first validated by comparing the predicted surface velocity with plant measurements. Then, seven LES simulations were conducted to study the effects of casting speed, electromagnetic braking (EMBr) field strength, and submerged entry nozzle (SEN) depth on the transient flow. The results show that EMBr has an important influence on flow inside the SEN, in addition to flow in the mold. With EMBr, an “M-shaped” flow profile is seen inside the SEN. The swirling flow behavior in the SEN and ports is more symmetrical at high casting speed and with higher EMBr strength. The position of the SEN ports relative to the peak magnetic field affects the EMBr performance. The results confirm and quantify how applying EMBr greatly lowers both the magnitude and turbulent variations of the surface velocity and level profile.

Continuous casting is the essential process converting liquid steel to solid in the form of slabs or billets/blooms in the steel plant. The economy and quality of the steel products are greatly dependent on how successfully the continuous casting is performed. New technologies have been actively developed in the process during the last decades in order to increase the productivity and, therefore, to decrease the operational cost. Since its first commissioning of a slab caster in 1976, POSCO has constructed a number of continuous slab, bloom and billet casters including a thin slab caster not only for plain carbon steels but for stainless steels. Through the operation of various types of continuous casters for more than 30 years so far, POSCO has steadily developed fundamental technologies and operational know-how and achieved the equipment innovations to improve the surface and internal qualities of cast products as well as to extend the productivity of continuous casters. Furthermore, POSCO has deepened the basic understanding on the solidification phenomena of liquid steel and also accumulated the engineering backgrounds to design the most optimal continuous casters. It has also devised the indispensable and auxiliary equipments and the key technologies to control the process precisely and efficiently in order to guarantee the quality and productivity. An innovative technology under development is the POCAST process, where controlled amount of the pre-molten mold flux instead of conventional powder mold flux is continuously fed into free surface of molten steel through the plunger-type feeding system from the flux melting furnace. In order to prevent the molten flux from freezing at the meniscus, a reflective insulation cover is installed, leading to the suppression of thermal radiation from the molten steel and flux. It is generally understood that, as casting speed increases, the occurrence of breakout increases since mold lubrication becomes insufficient due to the lack of mold flux flow from the meniscus into the solid shell/mold boundary. However, by utilizing the especially composition controlled pre-molten flux, it becomes possible to eliminate the formation of slag bear in the mold. Therefore, the mold flux consumption rate is increased even at the reduced oscillation rate & stroke and more importantly, the mold flux infiltration becomes more uniform throughout the boundary between the mold and the solidified shell. This consequently results in drastic reduction of the formation and depth of the oscillation mark and the occurrence of surface hooks without increasing the possibility of breakout, as has been proved in the casting trials carried out with the 10 ton pilot slab caster in Pohang. A key trend in the development of the continuous casting process is to reduce the thickness of cast products. Examples include thin slab casting and strip casting. In the thin slab casting process, a major drawback is the relatively low casting speed and, as a result, the inefficient equipment layout in the plant where two casters are connected to a hot rolling unit. The drawback could be resolved if the casting speed exceeds a certain limit. At the high casting speed, the productivity of casting becomes equivalent to that of hot rolling, and the thin slab casting plant is to be designed so that one strand

Continuous casting (CC) is nowadays the world‐leading technology for steel production. The thin slab casting (TSC) is featured by a slab shape close to the final products and a high casting speed. The quality of the thin slabs strongly depends on the uniformity of the turbulent flow and the superheat distribution, defining the solid shell growth against a funnel‐shaped mold. In most studies, it is commonly assumed that the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) is properly arranged, and the melt inflow is symmetric. However, the misalignment or clogging of the nozzle can lead to an asymmetric flow pattern. Herein, the asymmetry is imposed via a partial SEN clogging: a) a local porous zone inside the nozzle reflects the presence of the clog material; b) the resistance of the clog is varied from low to high values. The solidification during TSC is modeled, including the effects of the turbulent flow. The variation of the flow pattern and the solidified shell thickness are studied for different permeability values of the SEN clogging. These effects are considered with and without the applied electromagnetic brake (EMBr) using an in‐house magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and solidification solver developed within the open‐source package OpenFOAM.

Surface turbulence in a physical model of a steel thin slab continuous caster

Herein, a three-dimensional mathematical model was established to investigate the metallurgical behavior of liquid steel in a funnel-shaped mold equipped with single-ruler electromagnetic braking (EMBr). The effects of mold thicknesses, electromagnetic intensity, and casting speed in flow behavior were investigated. The results indicate that with EMBr, multiple pairs of induced current loops are present in the horizontal section of the magnetic pole center, distributed in pairs between the jets and broad faces. The Lorentz force acting on the main jet, which impacts the downward and upward flow at adjacent broad faces, is opposite in direction. Increasing mold thickness results in a larger jet penetration depth, leading to a higher meniscus temperature near the narrow faces accompanied by elevated velocity and turbulent kinetic energy. EMBr can lead to a decrease in shell thickness and an improvement in its uniformity at mold exit. For the thickened mold, as the magnetic flux density increases and the casting speed decreases, the penetration depth of jets and velocity near the narrow faces and meniscus decreases. The shell thickness decreases as the casting speed increases, with the lowest non-uniformity coefficient of 6.78% observed at a casting speed of 5.0 m/min.

Clarifying the austenite grain growth law in the thin slab casting and rolling (TSCR) process can provide theoretical guidance for the control of austenite grain in the slab. Starting with the austenite nucleation during solidification process, the growth law of austenite grains is methodically studied throughout the TSCR continuous casting and soaking process. The results show that the austenite growth is not interrupted during the TSCR continuous casting and soaking process. The austenite grain growth in the continuous casting process accounts for more than 70% of the total growth. The growth rate of austenite in the continuous casting cooling process is always faster than that when reheated to this temperature. Compared with the holding temperature and holding time, the final size of austenite grains in the TSCR process slab is most affected by the continuous casting cooling rate. In addition, compared with the traditional process, the growth rate of austenite in TSCR process is faster at the end of soaking.

Thin slab continuous casting process can be controlled by the water flow rate through the copper mould to obtain the proper shell thickness for a given casting speed. To achieve this, 2D model for the liquid metal flow in the strand and water flow through the mould is developed using stream function and vorticity formulation. The main advantage is faster computation, which is very important for process optimisation, and real-time modelling for process control. The funnel type shape of the mould is efficiently taken into consideration by using body fitted coordinate system. The detailed CFD-based model can be used for analysing the process parameters and variables like heat transfer through the mould flux, casting speed and superheat. The model can be easily adapted for wide range of casting process like slab and billet casting and thin strip casting.

A three-dimensional mathematical model of the magnetic field, flow field, and temperature field in a 1500 mm × 90 mm CSP funnel-type mold is used to numerically study the effect of an electromagnetic brake (EMBr) on flow and heat transfer behavior of molten steel. A number of effects of EMBr on the flow pattern and temperature distribution of molten steel are simulated. The jet flow discharge from the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) is significantly suppressed. In addition, heat transfer in the upper part of the mold increases under the influence of EMBr, which can improve the mobility of liquid steel at the meniscus and achieve low superheat casting. The relations between casting speed and magnetic flux density, and between SEN submergence depth and the installation position of the EMBr device, are taken into account to study the effects of braking on molten steel. The results show that the braking effect is weakened with an increase in either the casting speed or the SEN submergence depth. In order to insure the efficient and stable operation of a continuous casting production, the magnetic flux density should be increased by approximately 0.1 T when the casting speed increases by 1 m/min. In addition, an optimal braking effect for molten steel can be obtained when the distance between the bottom of the nozzle and the upper surface of the EMBr device is 100 mm.

Owing to the smaller cross‐sectional size of the billet, the effect of the position of the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) on the fluid flow in a curved mold is more prominent. The transient fluid flow, heat transfer, and solidification behavior at different nozzle positions and mold electromagnetic stirring (M‐EMS) are investigated using a 3D transient mathematical model. The symmetry index, S, is introduced to quantitatively evaluate the symmetry of the flow field. When the SEN is offset to the outer curve, S is the highest, the flow field mixing is the best, and the liquid level fluctuation is minimal. When the SEN is offset to the inner curve, S is the lowest, and the washing of the solidified shell on the inner curve side is more significant, causing the solidified shell thickness on the inner curve to be thinner, which can easily cause steel breakout accidents. The M‐EMS can improve the uneven flow field caused by the nozzle position. In actual production, the SEN can be appropriately offset to the outer curve, and the application of M‐EMS can improve the flow field distribution of molten steel.

Texture of Hot Rolled Strip for Fe-3Si Steel Produced by Thin Slab Casting and Rolling