Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Behavior at the Strand-mold Interface of a Funnel-shaped Mold

Abstract

A segmented numerical model was developed to predict thermal behavior at the strand-mold interface in funnel-shaped mold. Initially, an inverse problem model was developed to calculate two-dimensional heat flux at the strand-mold interface. Subsequently, a coupled magnetic-flow-temperature field model for a 1530 mm × 70 mm CSP funnel-shaped mold was established, with temperature and flow fields derived from the calculated heat flux. Thermal contact resistance was determined using interface data, and results were validated against plant measurements. The findings demonstrate that interfacial heat transfer is primarily influenced by molten steel flow and mold geometry. High-velocity regions (jet flow and upper recirculation zones) exhibit greater sensitivity to casting speed variations, while mold geometry dominates in low-velocity regions (lower recirculation zones). Furthermore, a numerical heat transfer model incorporating thermal contact resistance was developed, providing a novel approach for analyzing thin-slab continuous casting cooling behavior.