Structure of turbulent flow in a slab mold

Sustainability of oscillating liquid steel jets discharging from a submerged, two‐port entry nozzle in thin slab molds has been studied through a water model and mathematically simulated using the Reynolds Stress Model of turbulence combined with the Volume of Fluid model to capture dynamics of the water‐air interface. At casting speeds of 5 and 7 m/min, both jets yield long range time‐dependent Reynolds stresses with high gradients which induce oscillating upper roll flows in the mold providing permanent flow asymmetry. Intermittent vortexes at the water‐air interface are generated by the interaction between the flow arising from the upper roll toward the SEN and a high velocity flow which goes through the gap between the SEN shaft and mold wall oriented toward the narrow wall. These flows gather at expansion of the mold funnel generating intermittent vortexes. Meniscus oscillation decreases in narrower molds even at high casting speeds. At lower casting speed like 5 m/min meniscus oscillation decreases considerably in wide and narrow molds. Turbulence understanding in thin slab molds would help to design submerged entry nozzles for higher steel casting speeds through wide molds with better meniscus stability.

DYANMICS OF UNSTEADY ONE-PHASE TURBULENT FLOWS IN A CONTINUOUS CASTING MOULD

The aim of this work was to analyse the influence of the nozzle structure and parameters on the molten steel flow in beam blank continuous casting. A three-dimensional steady state finite element model was developed to compute the flow field and the meniscus fluctuation in the mould. The volume of fluid model was used to track the free surface evolution at the meniscus. It can be concluded that compared with a through conduit submerged entry nozzle (SEN), a three lateral hole SEN will reduce the impact depth, change greatly the velocity at the free surface and intensify the fluctuation of the free surface. As a whole, the fluid flow in the mould will be improved, which will help to melt the mould powder and improve the absorption of non-metallic inclusions, thus improving steel cleanness. The most rational rake angle for the three lateral hole SEN is 9°. Meanwhile, the SEN immersion depth should be in the range 200–250 mm if the casting speed is about 0·9–1·1 m min−1.

Slag entrapment from metal–slag interface during continuous casting operations has been a major area of concern for steelmakers globally. The presence of inactive regions in the upper region of the mold poses another challenge. Proper flow behavior of the molten metal coming out of the nozzle in the mold is required to overcome these challenges. Nozzle design greatly affects the flow pattern of the molten steel inside the mold. The present investigation is an attempt to study the flow and solidification behavior in a slab caster mold with the use of a novel‐designed hexa‐furcated nozzle using numerical investigation results. The casting speed and submerged entry nozzle (SEN) depth are varied to study the effect of these parameters on minimizing the inactive zones in the mold and the steel/slag interface fluctuations. The results show that the interface fluctuation increases at higher casting speed and lower SEN depth. The residence time distribution (RTD) analysis was also performed for different cases to investigate the flow behavior. The validation of the fluid flow and RTD curve inside the computational domain is carried out with the use of physical modeling.

Two-phase flows in a mold of a slab caster are studied using water modeling, particle-image velocimetry (PIV), and computational fluid-dynamics techniques. Two-way coupled flows are observed in liquidgas systems, because both phases influence each other’s momentum transfer. In addition to this concept, PIV measurements indicate the existence of structurally coupled flows, where the velocity vectors of both phases observe similar orientations. When the drag forces of the liquid, exerted on the bubbles, exceed a certain value of the inertial forces of the liquid phase, at high mass loads of gas (ratio of mass flow rates of the gas phase and the liquid phase), the flow becomes structurally coupled. These types of flows promote large oscillations of the meniscus level. Two jets, liquid and bubble, were identified; the latter always reported larger angles than the first, independent of the gas load. Thus, a gas-rich jet is located closer to the lower edge of the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) port, and the liquid-rich jet is found above this position. The liquid-jet angle approaches that of the SEN port when the flow becomes structurally coupled. Structurally uncoupled flows report gas jets that follow torrent-type patterns which are well explained using a multiphase fluid-dynamics model. Structurally coupled flows yield gas jets with a continuous pattern.

In this paper, the fluid flow, slag entrainment and solidification process in a slab mold were studied using physical modeling and numerical simulation. The effect of two types of submerged entry nozzles (SENs) was also studied. The results showed that the surface velocity for type A SEN was larger than that using type B SEN. For type A SEN, the maximum surface velocity was 0.63 m/s and 0.56 m/s, and it was 0.20 m/s and 0.18 m/s for type B SEN. The larger shear effect on the top surface made the slag at narrow face impacted to the vicinity of 1/4 wide face, while the slag layer at the top surface was relatively stable for type B SEN. Increasing the immersion depth of SEN decreased the surface velocity and slag entrainment. For type A SEN, the thickness of the solidified shell at the narrow face of the mold outlet was thin (12.3 mm) and there was a risk of breakout. For type B SEN, the liquid steel with high temperature would flow to the meniscus and it was beneficial to the melting of the mold flux. The thickness of the solidified shell at the narrow face of the mold outlet was increased. Furthermore, the surface velocity was also increased and it was not recommended for high casting speed.

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.

Fluid flow in the mold region of the continuous slab caster at Panzhihua Steel is investigated with 0.6-scale water model experiments, industrial measurements, and numerical simulations. In the water model, multiphase fluid flow in the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) and the mold with gas injection is investigated. Top surface level fluctuations, pressure at the jet impingement point, and the flow pattern in the mold are measured with changing submergence depth, SEN geometry, mold width, water flow rate, and argon gas flow rate. In the industrial investigation, the top surface shape and slag thickness are measured, and steel cleanliness including inclusions and the total oxygen (TO) content are quantified and analyzed, comparing the old and new nozzle designs. Three kinds of fluid flow pattern are observed in the SEN: ‘‘bubbly flow,’’ ‘‘annular flow,’’ and an intermediate critical flow structure. The annular flow structure induces detrimental asymmetrical flow and worse level fluctuations in the mold. The SEN flow structure depends on the liquid flow rate, the gas flow rate, and the liquid height in the tundish. The gas flow rate should be decreased at low casting speed in order to maintain stable bubbly flow, which produces desirable symmetrical flow. Two main flow patterns are observed in the mold: single roll and double roll. The single-roll flow pattern is generated by large gas injection, small SEN submergence depth, and low casting speed. To maintain a stable double-roll flow pattern, which is often optimal, the argon should be kept safely below a critical level. The chosen optimal nozzle had 45-mm inner bore diameter, downward 15 deg port angle, 2.27 port-to-bore area ratio, and a recessed bottom. The pointed-bottom SEN generates smaller level fluctuations at the meniscus, larger impingement pressure, deeper impingement, and more inclusion entrapment in the strand than the recess-bottom SEN. Mass balances of inclusions in the steel slag from slag and slab measurements show that around 20 pct of the alumina inclusions are removed from the steel into the mold slag. However, entrainment of the mold slag itself is a critical problem. Inclusions in the steel slabs increase twofold during ladle changes and tenfold during the start and end of a sequence. All of the findings in the current study are important for controlling slag entrainment.

Dynamics of two-phase downwards flows in submerged entry nozzles and its influence on the two-phase flow in the mold

Herein, full region (not divided the mold into several parts) fluid flow in a wide slab mold is studied using a one‐quarter scale water model. The particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to analyze the turbulent features of the flows. The features include the distribution of instantaneous velocity fields, time‐averaged velocity fields, turbulent fluctuation velocity fields, the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and its dissipation rate, rate of strain, and the vorticity. There are several findings in this study. The fluid flow in the mold is not always symmetrical even the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) is strictly centered, but the time‐averaged flow structure is symmetric flow. The development of turbulence is relatively sufficient in the lower part of the mold, where the flow velocity is large, and the TKE and its dissipation rate are also large. Regions of positive and negative values signify the direction of the flow rotation with mirror images on both sides of the SEN. The regions of high vorticity are close to jets and decrease as it flows further into the mold.

A water model experiment was conducted to observe the vortexing flow in the steel slab continuous casting mold, the snake- shaped Plexiglas mold was designed to simulate the actual caster. The camera was used to record the flow patterns, which were visualized by injecting the black sesames into water. The changes of shape of single vortex and two vortices with time have been observed during experiments. A numerical model has been developed to analyze the vortexing flow, which may be produced by moving the submerged entry nozzle from center to off-center in the slab continuous casting of steel. According to the numerical results, the vortexing flow is resulted from three-dimensional biased flow in the mold. A vortex is located at the low velocity side adjacent to the submerged entry nozzle. The vortex strength depends on the local horizontal velocity of fluid and decreases gradually with distance from the free surface. The vortexing zone size depends on the biased distance of the submerged entry nozzle, and intensity of the vortexing flow depends on the casting speed of the continuous caster.

The effect of a new cylindrical swirling flow tundish design on the multiphase flow and heat transfer in a mold was studied. The RSM (Reynolds stress model) and the VOF (volume of fluid) model were used to solve the steel and slag flow phenomena. The effect of the swirling flow tundish design on the temperature distribution and inclusion motion was also studied. The results show that the new tundish design significantly changed the flow behavior in the mold, compared to a conventional tundish casting. Specifically, the deep impingement jet from the SEN (Submerged Entry Nozzle) outlet disappeared in the mold, and steel with a high temperature moved towards the solidified shell due to the swirling flow effect. Steel flow velocity in the top of the mold was increased. A large velocity in the vicinity of the solidified shell was obtained. Furthermore, the risk of the slag entrainment in the mold was also estimated. With the swirling flow tundish casting, the temperature distribution became more uniform, and the dissipation of the steel superheat was accelerated. In addition, inclusion trajectories in the mold also changed, which tend to stay at the top of the mold for a time. A future study is still required to further optimize the steel flow in mold.

Process and Quality Control during High Speed Casting of Low Carbon Conventional Slab

Effective control of intense turbulence is a crucial challenge for achieving steady production with ultra-high casting speed in thin slab continuous casting. In thin slab casting process, specially designed multi-port submerged entry nozzle (SEN) with four outlets is utilised to ensure an ample supply of molten steel, necessitating the selection and optimisation of suitable Electromagnetic Braking (EMBr) equipment for steel jet control. This study established a comprehensive three-dimensional model of a funnel-type mould, employing a combined experimental-numerical approach to validate and investigate the flow, heat transfer, solidification and electromagnetic behaviour in the mould. The steel grade studied in the simulation is Q235B, and its physical properties were calculated based on its composition with a temperature range of 1450–1826 K. To analyse the influence of high casting speed on the flow and solidification behaviour in the mould, three casting speeds were selected for the study, which were 6, 7 and 8 m/min. The results indicate that the novel Bowl EMBr significantly suppressed the penetration of steel jet and thus enhanced the thickness and uniformity of the solidified shell. As the casting speed increases from 6 to 8 m/min, the solidified shell thickness at the mould exit decreases from 7.91 to 5.94 mm, with the stagnant growth region approaching the mould exit. This highlights the requirement to correspondingly increase EMBr strength under ultra-high casting speed condition to avoid remelting of the shell and the risk of molten steel leakage. The coupled mathematical model established in this study provides guidance for optimising EMBr structures and casting speed under special multi-port SEN conditions, offering recommendations for the rational control of flow, heat transfer and solidification process in the mould.

The inter-related effects of nozzle clogging, argon injection, tundish bath depth, slide-gate opening position, and nozzle-bore diameter on the steel flow rate and pressure in continuous-casting slide-gate nozzles are quantified using computational models of three-dimensional (3-D) multiphase turbulent flow. The results are validated with measurements on operating steel continuous slab-casting machines and are presented for practical conditions with the aid of an inverse model. Predictions show that initial clogging may enhance the steel flow rate due to a potential streamlining effect before it becomes great enough to restrict the flow channel. The clogging condition can be detected by comparing the measured steel flow rate to the expected flow rate for those conditions, based on the predictions of the inverse model presented here. Increasing argon injection may help to reduce air aspiration by increasing the minimum pressure, which is found just below the slide gate. More argon is needed to avoid a partial-vacuum effect at intermediate casting speeds and in deeper tundishes. Argon flow should be reduced during shallow tundish and low casting speed conditions (such as those encountered during a ladle transition) in order to avoid detrimental effects on flow pattern. Argon should also be reduced at high casting speed, when the slide gate is open wider and the potential for air aspiration is less. The optimal argon flow rate depends on the casting speed, tundish level, and nozzle-bore diameter and is quantified in this work for a typical nozzle and range of bore diameters and operating conditions.