2013 Volume 99 Issue 10 Pages 593-600
In continuous casting process, evenness of solidification is one of the most important issues of steel quality. Molten steel is solidified at water-cooled mold and followed by secondary water cooling zones. To analyze the phenomenon of width direction’s unevenness of solidification, it is important to visualize the flow pattern of spray water. Computational fluid dynamics is useful but grid based methods for example FVM, FDM, and FEM are not appropriate because of complex free surfaces. So, the particle based method called MPS has been applied. One of the characteristic patterns of roll arrangement was modeled, and spray water flow was calculated. As a result, according to the water rate of spray, the accumulated water on rolls overflows. The accuracy of the numerical model has been verified by the experiment which consists of the acrylic plate and rolls and spray nozzles. Computational results of water flow rate at the position of roller bearings and edges of slab agreed well with experimental results. The heat transfer coefficients between water and slab surface were estimated by this calculated results, and the solidification was also calculated. It was found that uneven water flow affected the solidification unevenness.
