Vibrational Analysis of Steelmaking Ladles: Findings from Industrial and Laboratory Studies for Model Development and Stirring Optimization

Vibration measurements are being conducted at an industrial ladle containing molten steel during vacuum degassing at Uddeholms AB, Hagfors, Sweden, using three highly sensitive accelerometers. The accelerometers are installed at different radial positions on the ladle‐carrying car to record vibrations generated during argon gas injection under vacuum conditions, in order to study the vibrations generated in an industrial‐scale ladle. To gain deeper fundamental knowledge and understanding, a similar methodology and measuring equipment are implemented at a laboratory‐scale ladle operating with liquid Sn–40 wt% Bi alloy at 200 °C, integrated into the liquid metal model for steel casting facility at Helmholtz‐Zentrum Dresden‐Rossendorf (HZDR). The results indicate that bubble evolution events generate vibrations within comparable frequency ranges in both settings. A low‐frequency band (100–300 Hz) is observed, associated with bubble generation at the stirring plugs and higher frequency signals (900–1600 Hz) are linked to bubble rupture at the slag‐melt interface. The study demonstrates that analyzing the signals in those frequency bands can support the correct installation of gas flow rate and the assessment of gas injection conditions in steelmaking ladles. This study provides fundamental insights for interpreting vibration signals in an industrial setting.