2/25/2016

LIQUIDSTEEL:SteelMetallurgyinContinuousCastingTundishes

WhatHappensinaTundish?
Computermodelingcombinedwithphysicalmodelinghaspaidoffinsteelmanufacturing.That'sthe
messagefromAchillesVassilicos,researchconsultantatU.S.SteelTechnicalCenterinPittsburgh.
Since1989whentheTechnicalCenter,theresearcharmofU.S.Steel,becameacorporateaffiliateof
thePittsburghSupercomputingCenter,U.S.Steelresearchershaveusedthehighpoweredcomputing
oftheCRAYYMP,andnowtheC90,tohelpunderstandtheflowpatternsofmoltensteel.
TheU.S.Steelresearchteamwantstoknowwhathappenswhena"heat"ofsteelahugeladle
containingmorethan200tonsofmoltenmetalatcloseto3,000degreesF.emptiesitsfierybrew
intoacontinuouscasting"tundish."Inparticular,theywanttoknowaspreciselyaspossiblewhat
happensinsidethetundishasthemoltensteelchurnsandswirlsaround.Thetundishholdsthewhite
hotliquidandfeedsitoutthebottomintoacontinuouscastingmold,whereitformsamovingstrand
ofsteelthateventuallycoolsfromwhitetoredhotandgetscutintoslabsforfurtherprocessing.
Continuouscastingisthemostuptodatetechnologyavailableforproducinghighqualitysteelatlow
cost,andgoodunderstandingofwhatgoesoninthetundishiscriticalbecauseitaffectsthepurityand
chemistryoftheoutputsteel.Impurities,suchasoxidesofaluminum,calciumandiron,tendtofloat
tothetopofthetundishbath.Thesteelflowmustbecontrolledtoenhancethisflotationandto
preventturbulencefromdrawingimpuritiesbackdownintothebath.Furthermore,youneedtoknow
howthechemistryofthemixfeedingoutthebottomofthetundishvariesasanewheatpoursinthe
top.
"Theobjectiveistohavethecasterrunningcontinuously,"saysVassilicos,"andyouusuallyaimfora
stringofseveralhundredheats.Thechemistryoftenvariessignificantlyfromheattoheat.Ifyou
knowexactlywhatishappeninginthetundishinrealtime,youcanpreciselyandintelligently
dispositiontheoutputsteeltomeetthespecificationsofcustomerorders."
Usingacombinationofcomputerandlaboratorymodelingoftundishflows,theU.S.Steelteam
developedanautomatedprocesscontrolmethodforpredictingthechemistryofoutputsteelatits
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LIQUIDSTEEL:SteelMetallurgyinContinuousCastingTundishes

Gary,Ind.plant.Anotherresearcheffortledtoa"turbulencesuppressorpad,"apatenteddevicethat
controlsthequalityoftheveryhighqualitysteelusedinthinwallbeveragecans.

ComputedandMeasuredTracerEffects

InrecentcalculationsatthePittsburghSupercomputingCenter,A.K.SinhaandAchillesVassilicos
comparedphysicalmeasurementsoftracerresponseinscalemodelandrealtundishestoresultsfrom
computermodeling.Tracerssuchasapulseofcopperareaddedtoatundishmixtogiveareadingof
residencetimehowlongittakesforthetracertoexitthebathandtracerdensityovertimeatthe
exit.Thisinformationgivesavaluableindexoftheflowcharacteristicsofatundish.
Thestudyshowsthatcommonlyusednumericaltechniquesarenotsufficientlyaccurate.The
researchersdevelopedFORTRANcodethatadaptsamoreaccuratealgorithm,knownasQUICK
(quadraticupstreaminterpolation),forefficientuseontheCRAY.
ThefastresponseoftheCRAYascomparedtoinhouseworkstationsadayturnaroundversusas
muchasaweekisimportanttotheU.S.Steelresearchers."Thesecomputationssometimesrequire
alotoftweakingandadjustmentstoparameters,"notesVassilicos,"sometimeswithseveralrestarts.
WiththeCRAY,wecanseerightawaywhatwe'regetting,andifsomethingneedstobechanged,we
candoit."
Researchers:AchillesVassilicos&A.K.Sinha,U.S.SteelTechnicalCenter
Hardware:CRAYYMPC90
Software:QUICK(quadraticupstreaminterpolation)
Keywords:tundish,steelmanufacturing,flowpatterns,moltenmetal,continuouscasting,metallurgy,
turbulence,transitionslabs,tracereffects,processdesign,drawnandiron(D&I)steel,technology
transfer,U.S.Steel,USX.
RelatedMaterialontheWeb:
ProjectsinScientificComputing,PSC'sannualresearchreport.
References,Acknowledgements&Credits

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