Investigation on formation of equiaxed zone in low carbon steel slabs

摘要

The effects of liquid flow in mold and superheat on the formation of equiaxed zone in continuously cast low carbon steel slabs were discussed in present work. According to the fluid flow simulation results, "washing effect" was found out to bring about numerous equixed nuclei by detaching the dendrite arms at the solidification front in mold, and then the detached dendrites were remelted during sedimentation when the temperature in liquid pool was higher than remelting point. Based on the simulation results of liquid flow combining with the observation of equiaxed zone ratios and composition measurements varied with superheat, a formation mechanism of equiaxed zone was suggested for continuously cast slabs.