THE ROLE OF SLOTTED DAMS ON FLUID-FLOW IN THE TUNDISH OF A BILLET CASTER

A water model study was carried out assess the behaviour of fluid flow in the tundish of a six strand billet caster using slotted dams (which are one piece dams and weirs). Eight different types of slotted dams having circular or rectangular slots and different slot angles were studied. A 0.6 scale perspex model designed on the basis of Weber-Froude similitude criteria was used for the study. Two techniques were used to study the now characteristics in the tundish-now visualisation and residence time distribution (RTD). The results are discussed in terms of the extent of dead zone formation, behaviour of the streams discharging from the tundish, tundish surface disturbance and the extent of surface directed flow.