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The influence of mold behavior on the production of continuously cast steel billets

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Abstract

The origins of rhomboidity, longitudinal corner cracks, and breakouts in the continuous casting of steel billets have been investigated with the aid of heat flow and stress analyses of the mold wall. It has been shown that these problems can be linked to intermittent boiling in the cooling water channel, which may occur asynchronously on different faces of the mold. A mechanism based on asynchronous, intermittent boiling and nonsymmetrical cooling of the mold wall has been formulated which explains the influence of billet size, cooling-water velocity, water pressure, cold face roughness, and steel carbon content on the formation of rhomboidity and longitudinal corner cracks. Prevention of intermittent boiling is thereby shown to be a key factor in the production of defect-free billets. This can be accomplished by raising cooling water velocity, increasing mold wall thickness, increasing water back pressure, or roughening the cold face near the meniscus. These measures should also be effective in reducing the frequency of breakouts beneath the mold.

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Abbreviations

Cp :

Specific heat, J/kg K

Csf :

Empirical constant that depends on the nature of the heating surface/fluid combination

dw :

Water channel gap, width, m

DH :

Hydraulic diameter, m

g :

Gravitational acceleration, m/s2

ha :

Radiant heat-transfer coefficient at the hot face above the meniscus, W/m2 K

hfc :

Forced convection heat-transfer coefficient

hw :

Heat-transfer coefficient at the mold/cooling water interface

Hfg :

Latent heat of vaporization, J/kg

k :

Thermal conductivity, W/mK

L :

Distance from entrance of channel, m

P :

Water pressure, kPa

Pr :

Prandtl number

qb :

Boiling heat flux, W/m2

qfc :

Forced convection heat flux

qin :

Heat flux at point of incipient boiling

qo :

Heat flux from mold to cooling water

qs :

Heat flux from steel to mold

qir :

Heat flux in transition region between forced convection and nucleate boiling

Re :

Reynolds number

t :

Time, s

T :

Mold wall temperature, K

To :

Ambient temperature

T0 :

Initial mold temperature

Tsat :

Saturation temperature of water

Tw :

Water temperature

Tow :

Initial water temperature

V :

Velocity of cooling water in channel, m/s

x :

Transverse spatial coordinate, m

XM :

Thickness of mold wall, m

z :

Longitudinal spatial coordinate, m

ZF :

Height of freeboard in the mold, m

ZM :

Mold length, m

μ :

Viscosity of fluid,N ⋅s/m2

π :

Density of fluid, kg/m3

σ:

Surface tension of liquid/vapor interface,N/m

f :

Fluid

l :

Liquid

m :

Mold

v:

Saturated vapor

w :

Water

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of British Columbia, V6T1W5, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    I. V. Samarasekera (Lecturer) & J. K. Brimacombe (Stelco Professor of Process Metallurgy)

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  1. I. V. Samarasekera
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  2. J. K. Brimacombe
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Samarasekera, I.V., Brimacombe, J.K. The influence of mold behavior on the production of continuously cast steel billets. Metall Trans B 13, 105–116 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02666961

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