Thermal Cycling Simulation during Remelting Process of the Steel ASTM A743-CA6NM

Abstract

This study aimed to model numerically the thermal cycling resulting from the steel ASTM A743-CA6NM remelting process. The problem was solved with the support of the commercial software ANSYS / FLUENT ® 14.5 for the three-dimensional case using the finite volume method. The following simplifying assumptions were adopted: heat loss by natural convection, absence of radiation, no phase change, concentrated heat source, and thermophysical properties independent of temperature. The results were analyzed for two different current intensities: 90A and 130A, and compared with experimental measurements. The peak temperatures of the thermocouples near the fusion line for the current of 130A were well represented by the numerical model, with a maximum deviation of 9.62%. In the case of the more remote thermocouples from the fusion line, the best results were obtained for the current of 90A, not exceeding 5% of deviation. In general, it was found that the tested body is heated faster than in simulations. This can be considered as a consequence of the simplification in material properties, which were assumed constants with temperature. The results of this study demonstrate that, given the adopted simplifications, the numerical model was able to satisfactorily reproduce the experimentally measured thermal cycles.