Effect of vertical electromagnetic stirring on solute distribution in billet continuous casting process

A volume averaged columnar solidification model, which couples the flow, temperature and solute concentration fields, is applied to simulate experimental continuous casting cases with and without vertical electromagnetic stirring (V-EMS). The calculated distribution of magnetic induction intensity and final macrosegregation maps are consistent with the experimental results. Calculation results reveal that the V-EMS promotes longitudinal melt flow, accelerates heat dissipation and solidification and finally reduces the central segregation of carbon. However, when V-EMS is applied, the solute distribution becomes asymmetric because the melt flow shows opposite directions between the near and far sides from stirrer. An obvious positive segregation band is observed at about 1/4 width of the billet near the stirrer in both calculated and experimental results. The position and degree of such positive segregation could be affected by installation height of stirrer, as demonstrated by additional simulation cases.