Influence of mould curvature on the metallurgical performances of beam blank continuous casting

Abstract

A 3-D finite volume mathematical model was established by customizing pull velocity field function of solidified shell, to simulate the coupled fluid flow, heat transfer, and solidification of beam blank continuous casting, taking into consideration of the effects of mould curvature on the metallurgical performances. When the central impact stream reaches to a certain depth, part of it circulates to scour the solidified shell, causing the remelting of shell at fillet and narrow face centre from about 370 mm down the meniscus to mould exit. The differences of strand surface temperature and shell thickness between inside and outside radius caused by the mould curvature are obvious only at the fillet of the mould exit. The fillet of outside radius having the highest temperature but the thinnest solidified shell is prone to arising quality problems. The metallurgical performances under different casting speed and superheat indicated that the strand surface temperature arises and shell thickness decreases integrally at the mould exit as the casting speed increases. The superheat has the same influence trend as the casting speed does, but the sites it affects are concentrated in the fillet and narrow face centre.