Improved temperature and grain size consistency of continuous cast slabs through cooling spray regulation

Abstract

The consistency of temperature and grain size is crucial to the quality of the continuous casting slab. In order to study the temperature and grain size of the continuous casting slab as influenced by the cooling spray state, a cellular automatic finite element (CAFE) coupled model was developed. The model was validated by low magnification inspection and infrared temperature measurement. The process of continuous casting was simulated by numerical model. Temperature and grain size distribution in the transverse direction of the continuous casting slab can be controlled by adjusting the nozzle arrangement. The effect of different nozzle positions on the temperature field distribution in the second cooling zone of continuous casting was simulated. The optimal nozzle position was selected with the temperature distribution uniformity as the important index. When the optimized nozzle arrangement is selected, the transverse temperature and grain size of the continuous casting slab are more uniform.

Analysis and Control of the Slab Hot Ductility Behaviors Based on Nozzle Arrangement during Continuous Casting

“…In the continuous casting process, the water flux distribution varies with nozzle arrangement, [10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] and the hot ductility behaviors of blanks contribute significantly to their quality. [29][30][31][32][33]39] Therefore, to obtain the optimal parameters of nozzle arrangement matching the produced blank characteristics, it is essential Table 3.…”

“…[25,26] The cooling rate affects the austenite-ferrite transition temperature of steel during solidification, [27] and the differences in the hot ductility of steel at different austenitization temperature. [28] Nevertheless, to obtain the optimized parameters of nozzle arrangement, most of the studies have used methods based on the control of the water flux or the temperature distribution on the blank surface, [10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] ignoring the effect of blanks characteristics on the cooling process. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new strategy for nozzle arrangement matching the characteristics of the blank to reduce the surface cracks.…”

“…Secondary cooling control is an important content in the continuous steel casting process. [ 9 ] To obtain uniform heat removal, many researchers have focused on optimizing the length, [ 10 ] water consumption, [ 10–13 ] and nozzle arrangement [ 10,13–24 ] of the secondary cooling zones. Fan et al [ 10 ] revealed that the surface reheating of the strand was dramatically reduced by appropriately extending the secondary cooling zones, adjusting misalignment angle between two adjacent rows of nozzles, or decreasing the water volume in the secondary cooling zones.…”

“…Kotrbacek et al [8] analyzed the influence of impact density and impact pressure of spray water on the heat transfer efficiency of continuous casting slab and created the relevant quantitative function of heat transfer coefficient.Secondary cooling control is an important content in the continuous steel casting process. [9] To obtain uniform heat removal, many researchers have focused on optimizing the length, [10] water consumption, [10][11][12][13] and nozzle arrangement [10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] of the secondary cooling zones. Fan et al [10] revealed that the surface reheating of the strand was dramatically reduced by appropriately extending the secondary…”

“…Secondary cooling control is an important content in the continuous steel casting process. [9] To obtain uniform heat removal, many researchers have focused on optimizing the length, [10] water consumption, [10][11][12][13] and nozzle arrangement [10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] of the secondary cooling zones. Fan et al [10] revealed that the surface reheating of the strand was dramatically reduced by appropriately extending the secondary…”