Numerical study on a new swirling flow pocket brick for tundish upper nozzle during continuous casting of steel

Abstract

In this study, a new, simple-structured swirling flow pocket brick (SFPB) equipped on the upper nozzle of a tundish is proposed. Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effect of the SFPB on the liquid steel flow in the tundish and nozzle in comparison with that in a conventional tundish. The results indicate that the SFPB can reduce the dead volume fraction, increase the mixed flow volume with low risk of slag entrapment in the tundish, and generate a swirling flow in the nozzle. As the distance from the nozzle inlet increases, the swirling velocity decreases and the static pressure in the nozzle section increases. A higher velocity and static pressure are recorded in the near-wall region at the upper part of the nozzle, where the turbulent kinetic energy decreases significantly from 0.037 m² s⁻² in a conventional tundish nozzle to 0.013 m² s⁻² in the proposed SFPB tundish..