THE IMPORTANCE OF TURBULENCE MODELLING IN THE DESIGN OF A NOVEL DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR A SINGLE-BELT STEEL CASTING PROCESS

摘要

In this work, a comprehensive model including heat transfer, fluid flow and solidification was used to evaluate the performance of a novel delivery system for a single-belt steel casting process. This near-net-shape casting, although still in development, is one of the most promising routes for casting of low-carbon steel in large scale. This paper focuses on the performance of a low-Re k-c model that was employed to simulate the three-dimensional turbulent flows fully-coupled with heat transfer and macroscopic solidification. Simulations were run for the intended conditions of caster operation, and the results obtained with the d-c were compared with the results obtained with an ad hoc viscosity model, where the molecular viscosity was boosted 100 times, uniformly throughout the computational domain. A semi-analytical solution was employed for validating the models and the results showed that the ad hoc viscosity model overestimated the thickness of the solidified shell and underestimated the size of the mushy zone. In addition, in a region close to a corner on the top surface of the reservoir, the ad hoc viscosity model predicted much lower temperatures and premature formation of a solid shell. these findings were confirmed when a ceramic filter was included in the computational domain, to modify the flow towards the cooling belt.