Heat removal analysis on steel billets and slabs produced by continuous casting using numerical simulation

Simulation of a continuous casting process (CCP) is very important for improving industrial practices, reducing working times, and assuring safety operating conditions. The present work is focused on the development of a computational simulator to calculate and analyze heat removal during continuous casting of steel; routines for reading the geometrical configuration and operating conditions were developed for an easy management. Here, a finite difference method is used to solve the steel thermal behavior using a 2D computational array. Conduction, radiation, and forced convection equations are solved to simulate heat removal according to a steel position along the continuous casting machine. A graphical user interface (GUI) was also developed to display virtual sketches of the casting machines; moreover, computational facilities were programmed to show results such as temperature and solidification profiles. The results are analyzed and validated by comparison with industrial trials; finally, the influence of some industrial parameters such as casting speed and quenching conditions is analyzed to provide some recommendations in order to warrant safety operating conditions.