A 2-D Numerical Solution of Temperature Distribution, Solidification Time and Thickness in Continuous Slab Casting

Abstract

Continuous casting is the process of using continuous casting
machines and furnaces in casting metals into endless lengths of
strips or slabs which can be further shaped into other suitable
products. The process may sound simple but it is a complex
metallurgical process requiring closely coordinated analyses of the
relevant casting parameters. In this study, the Galerkin Finite
Element method has been employed in the numerical analyses of
temperature distribution, solidification time and solidification
thickness in continuous casting. From the analysis, in order to
prevent the mould from collapsing due to sudden change in
temperature, the mould was preheated to a temperature of 3200C
while the pouring temperature of the liquid cast was 1546oC. In the
solidifying steel shell it was observed that there was a linear increase
from 0.0005m to 0.0155m in the solidification of the liquid cast along
the shell with time since there was continuous cooling with water.
The pouring temperature of the liquid cast was varied between
14880C and 15460C and using this range of pouring temperatures,
the liquid cast completely solidified between 23.6 min and 28.0 min.
The results obtained from the analysis were validated with the work
from literature using the 2-D Time approximation model.