Numerical, Physical, and Industrial Experiments of Liquid Steel Mixture in One Strand Slab Tundish with Flow Control Devices

The paper presents investigation results related to a tundish furnished with a flow control devices (FCD). The facility under investigation is a one-strand tundish used for casting concast slabs. To evaluate the influence of FCDs on the pattern of liquid steel flow, an industrial and a laboratory experiments (physical and numerical simulation) were carried out. In collaboration with Vesuvius, a refractory materials manufacturer, and the ISD Czestochowa Steelworks Ltd., pilot industrial tests were carried out. Based on data acquired from the industry, a glass tundish model on a scale of 1:2.5 was made. A tundish in the form of virtual models was prepared for numerical simulations using the Gambit 2.4 software program. Commercial software Ansys-Fluent (R) was used for solving the mathematical model of the liquid steel flow. From the industrial and laboratory experiments, results were obtained, which provided a basis for plotting curves describing the steel mixing process in the tundish. In addition, the computer simulations provided also a valuable source of information about the flow directions, flow intensity and temperature of the liquid steel, represented in the form of maps.