JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014www.mejournal.

org
doi:10.14355/me.2014.0303.03

PhysicalandMathematicalSimulationof
FluidFlowinaWideSinglestrandTundish
forSlabContinuouscasting
ZhongLiangcai*1,HaoRuichao2LiJunzhe3LiLei1ZhuYingxiong4XuNinghui5
SchoolofMaterialsandMetallurgy,NortheasternUniversity,Shenyang110004,China;5PinggangJiujiang
BranchCorporation,Jiujiang332000,Jiangxi,China.
14

*1

zhonglc@126.com;2ohaoruichaoo0203@126.com;3why873936932@126.com;4lileineu2008@163.com

Received16July,2013;Accepted22September,2013;Published9June,2014
2014ScienceandEngineeringPublishingCompany

Abstract
Molten steel flow in a wide singlestrand tundish with
different flow control devices (FCDs) for slab continuous
casting was investigated by physical and mathematical
simulationsinthiswork.TheeffectsofdifferentFCDsonthe
flow characteristics and velocity and temperature fields in
the tundish with larger width, shorter length and larger
depth were studied. The results showed that locations and
dimensions of weirs and dams and geometry of turbulence
inhibitors(TIs)havealargeeffectontheflowcharacteristics
andvelocityandtemperatureprofiles.Adoptionofasquare
turbulenceinhibitorwithoutextendingtoplipscanimprove
themoltensteelflowbetterthanthatwithtopextendinglips
in the tundish. In comparison with the former tundish
configuration, the flow characteristics are improved to a
great extent in the optimum case. A big spring uprush
forms on the free surface around the long shroud when
moltensteelflowsintoaturbulenceinhibitorwithextending
top lips and rushes up reversely out of the TI, while four
small spring uprushes appear on the surface when a
squareTIwithoutextendingtoplipsisadoptedbecausethe
liquidsteelflowsmainlyoutofthe4cornersofthesquareTI.
Theflowofliquidsteelintheformertundishconfiguration
is not reasonable and the height of an area where
temperatureislessthan1819Kisabouthalfofliquidsurface
heightattherightsideofthestopper,whichmeansthatbig
deadzoneexitedintheformertundishconfiguration.Inthe
optimumcase,theheightofsuchareawasonlyoneseventh
of the liquid surface height. The RTD curves obtained from
themathematicalsimulationareagreedwiththosefromthe
physical modeling and the flow characteristics obtained
from these two methods in this work are coincident with
eachother.
Keywords
Slab Continuouscasting; Wide Singlestrand Tundish;
Mathematical Simulation; Physical Modelling; Fluid Flow

Characteristic; Velocity Field; Temperature Profile; Flow Control

Device

Introduction
Tundishes in continuous casting have very important
effects for steel cleanness. Tundish metallurgy has
beenpaidmoreandmoreattentions.1Itiswellknown
thatmoltensteelflowcharacteristicsintundisheshave
great effects on nonmetallic inclusion removal from
theliquidsteel,slagandairentrainmentminimization,
and new inclusion formation prevention. Different
flow control devices (FCDs), such as weirs, dams,
baffles and turbulence inhibitors (TIs), have been
applied in continuouscasting tundishes for
improvementofthecharacteristicsofmoltensteelflow.
Manyresearchers210haveappliedTIswithotherFCDs
to optimize the tundish configurations since 1990s by
physical modeling and/or mathematical simulation.
Generally, the TIs used have extending top lips in
these researches and good flow characteristics have
beenachieved.Butnotalltundishesaresuitabletouse
suchTIswithextendingtoplips.WhatkindsofTIsin
geometry should be adopted in a tundish lies on the
insideprofileoftundishes.
The geometry characteristics of the singlestrand slab
tundishprofilestudiedinthepresentworkarelarger
width,shorterlengthandlargerdepth,being1513mm
(upper width)4035 mm(upper length)1215(working
liquid surface depth). For such tundish, different TIs
with or without extending top lips were applied to
optimize the tundish configuration together with a
weir and a dam through physical modeling
experimentsandmathematicalsimulationcalculations,

109

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and the flow characteristics of the tundish with

differenttundishconfigurationsandtheirvelocityand
temperaturefieldsareinvestigatedinthiswork.

Mixingflowvolumefractionvm

vm

Vm
1 vd vp (5)
V

Physical Modeling Method

In order to ensure that the fluid flowing between a
modeltundishandaprototypetundishforisothermal
and nonreactive systems is similar, geometrical and
dynamicsimilaritiesmustbesatisfiedbetweenthetwo
vessels. In the present work, the ratio of geometrical
similarity of model tundish to the prototype, was
chosen to be 1:2.5. Dynamic similarity required
simultaneousequalityofbothturbulentReynoldsand
Froude numbers, but it was impossible to keep the
condition satisfied in reduced scale modeling studies.
ThecomputationalworkofSahaiandBurval11andthe
experimentalworkofSinghandKoria1213showedthat
the magnitude of turbulent Reynolds number under
turbulent flow range in different tundishes was very
similar.Therefore,Froudenumberbetweenthemodel
tundish and the prototype was maintained to be
equivalentinthiswork.Withthiscondition,thewater
flow rate, Qm in the experiments was calculated from
theliquidsteelflowrate,Qpbythefollowingequation:
Qm 2.5Q p

FIG.1SCHEMATICOFEXPERIMENTALAPPARATUS

Mathematical Simulation Method

GoverningEquations
Theliquidsteelflowinthecontinuouscastingtundish
can be considered to be threedimensional, turbulent.
The flow is treated as steady by neglecting the
phenomena involved during filling and emptying of
the tundish. The effect of surface slag to the flow is
ignoredandthemeltsurfaceisassumedtobeflat.The
molten steel is Newtonian and incompressible fluid.
Therefore, the governing equations in Cartesian
tensional form for the liquid steel flow in the tundish
canbewrittenas:

(1)

The experimental apparatus was shown in Fig. 1. 0.2

g/mlNaClsolutionof500mlwasusedasthetracerin
thephysicalmodelingexperiments.Afterfluidflowin
the model tundish reached stable, the tracer was
injected into the tundish though the ladle shroud. A
probe was located under the outlets ofthe tundish to
measurethevariationofwaterconductivitywithtime,
that is, residence time distribution (RTD) curves. The
probe was connected to a conductivity meter and the
signals were recorded with a data acquisition system
andacomputer.FromtheRTDcurvesmeasured,fluid
flow characteristics in a certain tundish configuration
werecalculatedwiththefollowingequations:

Continuity
Momentum

( ui u j )
eff
xi
xi xi

tav

tc t dt

c t dt

ti c ti ti
i

c ti ti

(2)

The turbulent viscosity is calculated through its

relationship with the turbulent kinetic energy and its
dissipationrate.Theturbulentkineticenergy,kandits
dissipationrate,canbeexpressedwiththefollowing
equations:

Plugflowvolumefractionvp
Vp min max
vp

(3)
V
2

Deadzonevolumefractionvd14
V
Q

vd d 1 a a (4)
V
Q

110

gi (7)

eff t (8)

u u j
i
x j xi

where, is the density of melt, u the velocity, p the

pressure, g the gravitation acceleration, and eff the
effective viscosity. i and j represent the three
coordinate directions. eff is equal to the sum of
molecularandturbulentviscosityofsteelasfollows:

Averageresidencetimetav

( ui ) 0 (6)
xi

Turbulentkineticenergy

k
ui k eff G (9)
xi
xi k xi

JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014www.mejournal.org

Dissipationrateofturbulentkineticenergy

BoundaryConditions

ui eff C1G C2 (10)
xi
xi xi k

The whole volume filled with molten steel in the

tundish was chosen as the numerical calculation
domain.Theabovecontinuity,momentumandenergy
equations were solved with the equations for k and
by using the boundary conditions. Nonslipping
conditionswereappliedasboundaryconditionstoall
solid walls. Frictionless conditions were used to the
free surface of liquid steel. The logarithmic law was
employed to all nodes closest to any solid walls. The
verticalvelocityprofilesoftheliquidsteelattheinlet
aswellasattheoutletofthetundishwereassumedto
be uniform through the cross sections and the other
two velocity components were assumed to be zero.
Thevaluesofkandattheinletwerecalculatedfrom
the inlet average velocity through the well known
equations.Aconstantmassflowrateofsteelfromthe
ladle to the tundish was 2.98 ton/min for the
mathematicalsimulation.

The generation term, G in Equs. (9) and (10) can be

givenas:
u u j
u
G 2 t i t i

xi
x j xi
2

(11)

Theturbulentviscosity,tcanbewrittenas:

C k 2

(12)

C1,C2,C,kandaretheempiricalconstantsofthek
model and were assigned to their standard values
from Launder and Spalding15: 1.44, 1.92, 0.09, 1.0 and
1.30,respectively.
Theheattransferinthetundishisgovernedbyenergy
equationasfollows:
( CP uiT )

T

eff
(13)
xi
xi
xi

For the boundary conditions of temperature field,

uniform and constant heat flow rates were used at
every wall surface of the tundish and liquid surface.
The heat flow rates used in this work were those
recommendedbyChakrabortyandSahai16andrelated
parameterswerelistedinTable1.

where the effective thermal conductivity, eff, is the

sumoftwocomponents:
C p t
eff
(14)
Prt

TABLE1PARAMETERSFORMATHEMATICALSIMULATIONOFLIQUID
STEELFLOWINTHETUNDISH

here,PrtistheturbulentPrandtlnumber,isthermal
conductivity,CpisheatcapacityandTistemperature.

Parameters
Values
Liquidsteel
7000
density/kgm3
Liquidsteel
41
conductivity/Wm1K1

To calculate the residence time distribution curves of

the molten steel in the tundish with different
configurations and compare them to the RTD curves
obtained from the physical modeling experiments, a
pulse of tracer was introduced into the melt through
the inlet and allowed to flow with the melt. By
monitoring the change in tracer concentration of the
melt at the tundish outlet, the residence time
distribution curve was obtained. The transport of the
tracer and the variation in tracer concentration are
governedbythemasstransportequationasfollows:

1823

Heatfluxat
bottom/kWm2

1.4

Heatfluxattransverse
walls/kWm2

3.8

Zero mass transfer fluxes were used at all walls and

liquidsurfaceformassequationsolution.Att=0sthe
massfractionoftraceratinletofthetundishwassetto
be 0.1. After t=1 s it was given as zero. The
concentrationofthetracerattheoutletofthetundish
wasmonitoredfromt=0andtheRTDcurveswouldbe
obtainedfromthenumericalcalculation.

c (ui c)

c

Deff
(15)
t
xi
xi
xi

wherecrepresentstheconcentrationofthetracer,tis
the time and Deff is the effective mass diffusion
coefficient and is the sum of the molecular and
turbulent diffusivity (D+DT). Under the condition
whereturbulentSchmidtnumberisequalto1,onehas:

The commercial CFD package FLUENT was used to

solve the above governing equations with the
boundary conditions. In the numerical solution
scheme Semi Implicit Method for Pressure Linked
Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm was used for pressure

Deff
1 (16)
eff

Inlettemperature/K

Parameters
Values
Liquidsteel
0.0067
viscosity/kgm1s1
Liquidsteelspecific
750
heat/Jkg1K1
Heatfluxatwalls
1.75
insidetundish/kWm2
Heatfluxatliquid
15
surface/kWm2
Heatfluxat
3.2
longitudinal
walls/kWm2

111

www.mejournal.orgJournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014

TIsareallsquareathorizontalcrosssectionexceptTI3
whose horizontal crosssection is rectangle with 280
mmshortsides.

and velocity coupling and first order upwind scheme

for momentum and scalar transport equations. Once
the flow and temperature fields were converged to
steady state the problem defined module of the
FLUENT solver was changed to unsteady state for
solving the transient tracer dispersion Eq. (15) with
appropriateinitialandboundaryconditions.

TheRTDcurvesinthetundishwithconfigurationsof
C0, C6, C7 and C11are shown in Fig. 4 and the flow
characteristics of different tundish configurations are
giveninTable3.ItisknownfromTable2thatC0and
C7 used the same TI, i.e., TI1, and the difference
between these two cases was their weir and dam
locationsandheights,i.e.,S1,S2,H1andH2.Asshown
inFig.4,therearehighpeaksintheRTDcurvesforC0
andC7cases,whichindicatesthatalotoftracersflow
outofthetundishandlargedeadzonevolumesexitin
thetundishwithC0andC7configurations,asseenin
Table 3. Even though C7 and C11 have the same
valuesofS1,S2,H1andH2,thepeakoftheRTDcurve
inC11caseisloweredapparentlyduetothedifferent
TIanditsRTDcurvemovestowardsrightsideinFig.
4.TheseresultsindicatethatTI1isnotsuitableforthis
kind of tundish studied in present work. The
difference among C6, C7 and C11 cases in
configuration is that there is no TI in C6 case. It is
known from Fig. 4 that the minimum residence and
peak concentration times in C6 case are short. Short
minimumresidenceandpeakconcentrationtimesare
notexpectedeventhoughitspeakconcentrationislow.
Therefore,theadoptionofturbulentinhibitorwithout
extending top lips, TI5, in this tundish can distribute
molten steel well to larger space of the tundish and
prolong residence time of liquid steel in the tundish,
whichisfavorabletoremovalofnonmetalinclusions.
Such result is determined by the characteristic of this
tundishprofile.

Results and Discussion

PhysicalModeling

FIG.2SCHEMATICOFTUNDISHCONFIGURATIONSINTHE
EXPERIMANTS
TABLE2TYPICALTUNDISHCONFIGURATIONSINEXPERIMENTS

Case
C0
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
C10
C11

TI
TI1
TI1
TI1
TI2
TI3
TI4

TI1
TI5
TI5
TI5
TI5

S1/mm
632
590
590
590
590
540
390
390
540
440
390
390

S2/mm
108
108
200
150
150
200
150
150
200
200
200
150

H1/mm
96
96
130
55
55
55
55
55
55
55
55
55

H2/mm
136
136
205
205
205
225
250
250
250
250
250
250

2.0

1.5

C0

C/-

C7

FIG.3SCHEMATICOFSOMETURBULENCEINHIBITORSIN
THEEXPERIMENTS

C11

Differenttundishconfigurationstudiedinthisworkis
showninFig.2.Thetundishconfigurationsconsisted
of different turbulent inhibitors (TIs), different
locations of a weir and a dam (S1 and S2) and their
different heights (H1 and H2). A lot of tundish
configurations had been experimented in the present
work,butforspacelimitedonlysometypicaltundish
configurations are listed in Table 2 where C0 is the
former tundish arrangement. Figure 3 presents some
TIsusedinthephysicalmodelingexperiments.These

112

C6

1.0

0.5

0.0
0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

/FIG.4RTDCURVESINSOMEDIFFERENTTUNDISH
CONFIGURATIONS

AsshowninTable3,thefluidflowinthetundishwith
the former configuration, C0, is not perfect. Its

JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014www.mejournal.org

and dam and let fluid flow toward upper part of the
right end wall, which increases residence times and
decreasesdeadzonevolumeinthetundish.

minimumresidenceis64s,itspeakconcentrationand
average residence times are short and its dead zone
volume is larger, being 35%, which decreases largely
theeffectivevolumeofthetundish.ThesameTI1was
usedinC1andC2casesandthelocationsandheights
of the weir and dam were adjusted, but the flow
characteristics in these two cases change less. Their
averageresidencetimesincreasealittleandtheirdead
zone volumes decrease less, and all of their fractions
wereover30%.

C7 case was obtained by applying TI1 to C6 case.

Comparing to C6 case, minimum residence and peak
concentration times in C7 case are prolonged, but its
dead zone volume fraction is enlarged from 21% to
25%, which means that this TI1 is not favorable to
decreasing dead zone volume in this tundish.
Application of TI in C7 case, in comparison with C6,
prolongs distance of fluid flow in the tundish.
Therefore, its minimum residence time increases. But
such TI with extending top lips makes the fluid flow
out of the TI in a concentrative way and can not
transfer the fluid to the whole tundish volume. For
thisreason,thetracersaddedintothetundishwithC7
configuration flow out of the tundish quickly due to
its larger width, which makes its RTD curve have
short peak concentration time and high peak
concentration,asshowninFig.4.Asaresult,thereis
largerdeadzonevolumeinthetundishwithC7case.

TABLE3FLOWCHARACTERISTICSINDIFFERENTTUNDISH
CONFIGURATIONS

Case
C0
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
C8
C9
C10
C11

tmin/s
64
64
70
78
80
78
54
63
88
82
79
81

tmax/s
81
81
108
113
130
134
91
99
121
139
141
163

tav/s
237
241
249
279
280
289
286
273
291
303
307
314

vp/%
20
20
24
26
29
29
20
22
29
30
30
33

vd/%
35
34
32
24
23
21
21
25
20
17
16
14

vm/%
45
46
44
50
48
50
59
53
51
53
54
53

ItwasfoundfromtheexperimentsthatincreaseinTIs
outlet area can improve fluid flow characteristics in
this tundish. TI5 was achieved by canceling TIs
extendingtoplips.C8,C9,C10andC11configurations
consist of TI5 and different locationsand heights ofa
weir and a dam. It is known from Table 2 and 3 that
the peak concentration and average residence times
are prolonged greatly by using TI5 and moving the
weir and dam towards the direction of the tundish
outlet and the dead zone volume is reduced greatly,
beingless20%.Thedeadzonevolumefractioninthe
tundishwithC11caseisloweredto14%,lessby60%
thanthatintheformertundishconfigurationC0.

Turbulent inhibitors of TI2, TI3 and TI4 were applied

in tundish configurations of C3, C4 and C5,
respectively. The outlet areas of these three TIs are
incremental. It can be seen from Table 2 and 3 that
flow characteristics in such tundish are improved by
changing TIs and adjusting locations and heights of
the weir and dam. The minimum, peak and average
residence times are increased and the dead zone
volumeislowered,beingbelow25%.
TherewasnoTIinC6caseanditsdeadzonevolume
is low obviously, lower 40% than that in the former
case C0. The peak and average residence times are
prolongedinsomedegree,buttheminimumresidence
time becomes shorter by 10 s due to no TI, as
comparedtothatinC0case.Whenfluidflowsintothe
tundish,apartofitflowstothedamalongthetundish
bottomifnoTIisusedinthetundish.Asaresult,the
flowing distance of this part of fluid is short and the
minimum residence time in such tundish
configurationbecomeslow.

35

vd /%

30

25

20

ItcanbeconcludedfromTable2and3thatreduction
inS1andH1andincreaseinS2andH2arefavorableto
improvement for fluid flow characteristics in this
tundish.Averageresidencetimeisincreasedanddead
zone volume is decreased. Lowering H1 and S1 and
increasing S2 and H2 can prolong fluids flowing
distance,reduceitsflowingvelocitybetweentheweir

TI: TI1, S2=108 mm, H1=96 mm, H2=136 mm

TI: TI5, S2=150 mm, H1=55 mm, H2=250 mm

15
350

400

450

500

550

600

650

S1/mm

FIG.5RELATIONSHIPBETWEENDEADZONEVOLUME
FRACTIONINTHETUNDSIHANDS1

113

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Fig. 5 presents the variation of dead zone volume

fraction in the tundish with the distance S1 between
thedamandthecentrelineofthetundishoutletunder
theconditionofthesameTI,S2,H1andH2.WhenS1is
reduced from 632 mm to 390 mm, the dead zone
volume fraction is lowered from 35% to 30% for the
formertundishconfigurationC0,whilethefractionis
decreased from 20% to 14% for the optimum tundish
configurationC11whenS1isreducedfrom540mmto
390 mm. As described above, the fluid flowing over
the dam can moves towards the end wall at higher
velocitywhentheweirandthedamaremovedtothe
side of the tundish outlet. The same effect is also
obtained if the dams height is increased. Therefore,
thedeadzoneatthatendwallisreduced.

RTD curves obtained from physical modeling

experimentsandmathematicalsimulationsindifferent
tundishconfigurationsaregiveninFigs.6and7.Itis
shown in these figures that the RTD curves obtained
from mathematical simulations are agreed basically
with those from corresponding physical modeling
experiments. Only some differences between these
two methods in this work exist in the vicinity of the
peaks of the curves, but the results in the
mathematical simulations can reflect fluid flow
characteristics in different tundish configurations.
Table4givesacomparisonofflowcharacteristicsfrom
mathematical simulation to those from physical
modeling.Itisobviousinthistablethatthecalculated
flow characteristics from the RTD curves in
mathematical simulations are coincident with those
fromthemeasuredRTDcurves.

The research results in this work indicate that FCDs

and their locations in tundishes should be optimized
carefully to determine an optimum tundish
configuration according to tundish inside profile and
molten steel flow rate so that the optimumfluidflow
characteristics in tundishes can be achieved for the
sufficientremovalofinclusionsfromliquidsteel.

TABLE4COMPARISONOFFLUIDFLOWCHARACTERISTICSINDIFFERENT
TUNDISHCASESFROMNUMERICALANDPHYSICALSIMULATIONS

Case
C0
C11

MathematicalSimulation

C7
C6

Physical result for C6

1.5

C/-

Nmerical result for C6

Nmerical result for C7

0.5

0.0
0

/ -

FIG.6RTDCURVESFROMMATHEMATICALANDPHYSICAL
SIMULATIONSINC6ANDC7TUNDISHCONFIGURATIONS

Physical result for C0

1.5

Numerical result for C0

Numerical result for C11

1.0

C/-

Physical result for C11

0.5

0.0
0

/-

FIG.7RTDCURVESFROMMATHEMATICALANDPHYSICAL
SIMULTIONSINC0ANDC11TUNDISHCONFIGURATIONS

114

tmin/s
68
63
86
82
70
63
54
54

tmax/s
123
76
185
165
113
99
169
91

tav/s
285
235
320
313
297
273
321
286

vp/%
26
19
37
34
25
22
31
20

vd/%
28
35
17
14
24
25
19
21

vm/%
46
45
46
52
51
53
50
59

In order to compare the velocity and temperature

fieldsinthetundishwithdifferentconfigurations,the
former tundish configuration and the optimum one
were chosen to conduct such comparison in the
mathematical simulation. The velocity fields and
streamlines at symmetrical longitudinal plane and
liquidsurfaceintheformertundishconfigurationare
presented in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. It is known
from the two figures that the liquid steel flowing out
ofthelongshroudimpingesthebottomoftheTIwith
extendingtoplipsandthenflowsoutoftheTIatthe
oppositedirectiontowardstheliquidsurface.Thereis
a big recirculation region around the stream entering
the tundish through the long shroud with the
recirculation eye near the TI bottom. When the
molten steel reaches the free surface, it forms a big
springuprushandthenflowsalongthesurfaceand
againstthelongshroudtowardstothesidewallsand
theweir.Asthemoltensteelreachesthesesolidwalls,
it turns downward. There are two other recirculation
zones near the liquid surface in the area between the
left tundish side wall and the weir, as can be seen in
Fig. 8(b). After the melt reach the tundish bottom,
some part of steel flow along the tundish bottom

Physical result for C7

1.0

Method
Numerical
Physical
Numerical
Physical
Numerical
Physical
Numerical
Physical

JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014www.mejournal.org

foundfromthesetwofiguresthatthestreamfromthe
long shroud impinges the bottom of the TI without
extending top lips and diverts along its bottom. The
meltrushesreverselyupmainlyoutofthe4cornersof
the TI toward the free surface where 4 small spring
uprushes are formed, as can be seen in Fig. 11(b).
Such phenomena could be observed visually in the
physical modeling experiments with the TI without
extending top lips. A recirculation region with small
height is formed around the shroud stream near the
TIsbottom.Themeltsreachedatthefreesurfaceflow
all around along the surface and turn downward at
the around walls and the symmetrical plane of the
tundish when they encounter. No other recirculation
zonesarefoundunderthefreesurfaceasthoseinthe
former tundish configuration in the vertical
symmetrical plane. Only several very small
recirculation flowing zones can be observed on the
free surface at the left side of the weir. Such flowing
characteristics in the optimum tundish case are
different from those in the former tundish case. With
the reduction in distance between the dam and the
tundish outlet, the recirculation flow region between
the dam and the stopper becomes small, while with
increaseindistancebetweentheweirandthedam,the
recirculationzonebehindtheweirbecomeslarge.

towardthedam.Thenthispartofliquidsteelisforced
to move upwards to the liquid surface due to the
obstructioneffectofthedam.Themeltflowsalongthe
freesurfacetowardtherightsidewall.Finally,itturns
down near the stopper and flows toward the tundish
outlet.Alargerecirculationregionisformedbetween
the dam and the right tundish side wall. A small
recirculation flow exists in the right side of the weir.
Although some recirculation regions are formed on
thefreesurfaceneartherighttundishsidewall,ascan
be found in Fig. 9(b), they would not lead to slag
entrapmentbecausethevelocityhereisverysmall.
0.5m/s

(a)Velocityfield

0.5m/s

(b)Streamline
FIG.8FLOWFIELDANDSTREAMLINESATVERTICAL
SECTIONINTHEFORMERTUNDISHCONFIGURATION
0.5m/s

(a)Flowfield

(a)Flowfield

(b)Streamline
FIG.10FLOWFIELDANDSTREAMLINESATVERTICAL
SECTIONINTHEOPTIMALTUNDISHCONFIGURATION
0.5m/s

(b)Streamline
FIG.9FLOWFIELDANDSTREAMLINESATFREESURFACEIN
THEFORMERTUNDISHCONFIGURATION

Flow fields and corresponding streamlines in the

tundish with the optimum configuration in the
symmetricallongitudinalplaneandonthefreesurface
are shown in Figs. 10 and 11, respectively. It can be

(a)Flowfield

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www.mejournal.orgJournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014

steeltemperaturerangeintheareaof1/2heightofthe
bath near the free surface at the right side of the
stopper varies from 1819 K to 1813 K and the lowest
melt temperatures at the two side walls on the free
surfaceattherightsideofthetundishareonly1807K
and 1808 K, respectively. Therefore, in such areas the
moltensteelflowsslowlyanddeadzonesareformed,
resulting in lower temperature regions and reduction
in effective tundish volume and being unfavorable to
makingfulluseofmetallurgicalfunctionsoftundishes.
It can be known from Fig. 13 that the temperature
gradients along the melt flow direction in the
optimumtundishconfigurationbecomessmallerthan
those in the former tundish case. The high
temperaturezonesdisperseatthe4gushesabovethe4
corners of the TI. There are larger areas where the
temperature is between 1822 K and 1821 K in the
verticalsymmetricalplaneandonthefreesurface.The
molten steel temperature range in the area of 1/7
heightofthebathnearthefreesurfaceattherightside
of the stopper varies from 1819 K to 1816 K and the
lowest melt temperature at the two side walls on the
freesurfaceattherightsideofthetundishis1813K.It
is indicated from the above results that the molten
steel flow is reasonable and dead volume and low
temperature regions are reduced in the optimum
tundishconfiguration.

(b)Streamline
FIG.11FLOWFIELDANDSTREAMLINESATFREESURFACEIN
THEOPTIMALTUNDISHCONFIGURATION

(a)Verticalsymmetricalplane

(b) Free surface

FIG.12TEMPERATUREFIELDINTHEFORMERTUNDISH
CONFIGURATION

Conclusions
Moltensteelflowinawidesinglestrandtundishwith
different FCDs for slab continuouscasting was
investigated by physical and mathematical
simulations in this work. The following conclusions
canbedrawnoutfromthisinvestigation.

(a)Verticalsymmetricalplane

(1) The former tundish configuration and the former

FCDs are not reasonable, resulting in poor flow
characteristics. The residence times are short and the
dead zone volume is large, being 35%. Such tundish
configurationisunfavorabletotheinclusionremoval.
(2)AdoptionofaTIwithoutextendingtoplipsinthis
tundish can improve flow characteristics in
comparisontotheformerTIwithextendingtoplipsin
thisspecialtundish.Increaseintheheightofweirand
dam and movement of the weir and dam toward the
outletofthetundishcanprolongresidencetimesand
reducedeadzonevolume.

(b)Freesurface
FIG.13TEMPERATUREFIELDINTHEOPTIMALTUNDISH
CONFIGURATION

Temperature distributions in the tundish with the

formerandtheoptimumconfigurationsarepresented
inFigs.12and13,respectively.ItcanbeseenfromFig.
12 that larger temperature gradients exist along the
flow direction of liquid steel and its temperature
changesfrom1821Kto1807Kattherightsideofthe
weironthefreesurface.Thehightemperatureregion
concentrates around the shroud stream. The molten

116

(3) In comparison with the former tundish

configuration,theflowcharacteristicsintheoptimum
tundishcaseareimprovedtoagreatextent;minimum
residence time, peak concentration time and average

JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume3Issue3,July2014www.mejournal.org

residencetimeareincreasedfrom64s,81sand237s
to81s,163sand314s,respectively,andthefractionof
dead zone volume decreases from 35% to 14%, being
reducedby60%.

thiskeyresearchproject(No.61333006).
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