Simulation of Grain Growth during Solidification of Twin-Roll Continuously Cast Pure Aluminum with a Modified CA Model

A new mathematic model for the nucleation and the dendrite growth of twin-roll-continuously cast pure aluminum thin strip during solidification process was developed based on cellular automaton(CA)-finite element(FE) method and the classical transfer equations during dendrite growth. The model coupled the temperature field calculation and microstructure simulation. The solute diffusion, the curvature undercooling and the latent heat releasing were also considered in the model, all of which have significant influence on the dendrite evolution. So the dendrite growth morphology can be modeled. The applications of the model in equiaxed dendrite growth, multiple equiaxed dendrite growth, columnar grain growth, and columnar dendrite transformation to equiaxed dendrite in twin-roll-continuously cast aluminum thin strip solidification were presented. The microstructure simulation results were compared with the experimental results and they were in good agreement in dendrite morphology.