Abstract
Electroslag casting with liquid metal (ESC LM) is a new technology in electroslag metallurgy. Solid ingot, hollow ingot and bimetal composite can be produced by the ESC LM process. Using both internal and external current carrying moulds for ESC LM is a new method for manufacturing hollow ingots. Liquid metal is employed directly during the ESC LM process rather than the conventional consumable electrode. The process was simulated using infinite element software ANSYS. The results indicate that the conductive path of the ESC LM process is entirely different from the conventional electroslag remelting process. There are two conductive current paths: one conductive path is transformer→external current conductive mould→liquid slag→internal current conductive mould→transformer, and another conductive path is transformer→external current conductive mould→liquid slag→molten steel pool→liquid slag→internal current conductive mould→transformer. Current density, magnetic inductive intensity, electromagnetic force, Joule heat distributions and fluid flow are concentrated on the upper area of the slag pool. In addition, the higher temperature region of the slag pool is at the upper area of the slag pool. The superheat of the molten steel pool is lower than the conventional electroslag remelting process, which favours improving the quality of the hollow ingot. Simulation of the ESC LM process will help understanding the process and choose better operating parameters.
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