Simulation study on horizontal continuous casting process of copper hollow billet under rotating electromagnetic stirring Part 1—model description and primary results

Abstract

In this paper, a comprehensive three-dimensional mathematical model is built to investigate the effect of rotating electromagnetic stirring on solidification process of copper hollow billet during horizontal continuous casting. The finite element package ANSYS and the commercial finite volume package FLUENT are employed for simulating electromagnetic field and thermal flow field respectively. The Lorenz force and Joule heat are transferred between them with a special data communication method. The model involves the solution of Maxwell equations, Navier—Stokes equations and energy equation for the turbulence characteristics κ and ϵ. The measured magnetic flux density is used for validating the proposed model. The simulated results show that rotating electromagnetic stirring causes a swirling motion in the hollow billet and makes the temperature field uniform. In the present study, the temperature gradient decreases from 748 to 196 K m−1, and the sump depth is reduced from 48·8 to 29·0 mm.