Numerical Simulation on Transient Flow, Heat Transfer, and Solidification during Slab Continuous Casting Start Process

A 3D mathematical model is established based on the dynamic mesh model, incorporating the turbulence model, volume of fluid multiphase model, energy equation, and solidification model to achieve a comprehensive numerical simulation of transient flow, heat transfer, and solidification during the slab continuous casting (CC) start process. An innovative method is developed to drive the movement of the solidified shell through motion boundaries, which successfully overcome the limitation of conventional steady simulations in achieving continuous fluid domain expansion and time‐dependent casting speed variation. The transient flow pattern, heat transfer, and solidification characteristics of the molten steel during different CC start stages are analyzed as functions of the casting time. The comparison between the measured solidified shell thickness of the breakout slab and numerical simulation results validates the rationality and accuracy of the current mathematical model. This study provides an entirely new approach for the numerical simulation of the unsteady CC process and also lays the foundation for predicting the spatial distribution of inclusions in unsteady slabs.