Solidification Structure and Macrosegregation of Billet Continuous Casting Process with Dual Electromagnetic Stirrings in Mold and Final Stage of Solidification: A Numerical Study

Abstract

Coupling macroscale heat transfer and fluid flow with microscale grain nucleation and crystal growth, a mixed columnar–equiaxed solidification model was established to study the SWRT82B steel solidification structure and macrosegregation in 160 mm × 160 mm billet continuous casting with dual electromagnetic stirrings in mold and final stage of solidification (M-EMS and F-EMS). In the model, the phases of liquid, columnar, and equiaxed were treated separately and the initial growing equiaxed phase, which could move freely with liquid, was regarded as slurry. To obtain the equiaxed grains nucleation and columnar front evolution, the unit tracking method and the columnar front tracking model were built. The model was validated by magnetic induction intensity of stirrer, billet surface temperature, and carbon segregation. The equiaxed phase evolution and the solute transport with effect of fluid flow and grains transport were described in this article. The results show that the equiaxed phase ratio will not increase obviously with higher current intensity of M-EMS, while the negative segregation near the strand surface becomes more serious. The negative segregation zone near the billet center and the center positive segregation come into being with the effect of equiaxed grains sedimentation and liquid thermosolutal flow. It is also found that the liquid solute transport in the F-EMS zone becomes the main factor with higher current intensity rather than the solidification rate, and therefore, the final billet center segregation decreases first and then turns to rise with the current intensity. The optimal current intensities of M-EMS and F-EMS proposed for SWRT82B billet continuous casting are 200 and 400 A, respectively.