Prediction of Grain Structure of Thin Bronze Slab Produced by Horizontal Continuous Casting

Abstract

The grain structure of a thin bronze slab produced by horizontal continuous casting was investigated using heat-transfer calculation and cellular automaton (CA). The composition of the bronze was Cu–22wt%Sn, which has been widely used in Korean history. The solid form of Cu–22wt%Sn was assumed as a single phase for simplicity. To simulate the macrostructure of the alloy, the heat transfer in the horizontal continuous casting was calculated as a steady-state one-dimensional lumped system. The CA was used for simulating the grain structure. Since the temperature profile was in the steady state, the cell information was shifted along the casting direction at a rate of one cell per time step during the simulation. The grains were nucleated at the slab surface and grown as columnar grains. The effects of the process parameters, such as initial melt temperature and casting speed, on the grain structure of the slab were investigated. It was found that the casting speed is a critical factor determining the angle between the columnar grains and the casting direction.