Numerical simulation on molten steel flow in the mold under the effect of vertical traveling wave magnetic field and horizontal steady magnetic field

Electromagnetic braking technology plays a critical role in improving the continuous casting yield and optimizing the quality of the continuous casting slab. This paper introduced a novel electromagnetic braking device that integrates a vertical traveling wave magnetic field with a horizontal steady magnetic field, referred to as VTHS-EMBr. The VTHS-EMBr consists of two pairs of vertical magnetic poles that generate the traveling wave magnetic field and a pair of horizontal magnetic poles that generate the steady magnetic field, which were installed on the wide face close to the narrow face of the mold and beneath the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) of the mold. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the characteristics of combined magnetic fields with varying vertical traveling wave magnetic induction intensities, wave frequencies, and different horizontal magnetic induction intensities, as well as their effects on the flow behavior of molten steel and meniscus fluctuations in the mold. The results showed that when the motion direction of the vertical traveling wave magnetic field was downward, the electromagnetic braking force increases significantly with higher applied current and frequency. This effect not only effectively reduced the velocity of molten steel in the upward backflow region, mitigated the impact of upward backflow on the meniscus, and significantly suppressed its fluctuation, but also appropriately increased the impact depth of the downward backflow. Under the casting speed of 2 m/min in this study, the VTHS-EMBr demonstrated effective flow control performance. The research on this novel electromagnetic braking technology provides a theoretical basis and technical support for optimizing traditional electromagnetic braking technologies and developing new electromagnetic braking technologies.