Investigation on the Flow and Solidification Characteristic of Steel During Continuous Casting

The flow and solidification inside the mould are crucial to the quality of the casting billet during continuous casting. In this work, a three-dimensional coupled model of flow and solidification was established, and the flow field and temperature distribution characteristics of molten steel were deeply explored. The results indicated that the molten steel streams out of the SEN at a defined degree and enters the mould in the form of an impact stream, and then impacts the narrow surface. The eddy core position in the upper recirculation region of the flow field is (0.565 m, −0.179 m), and eddy core position in the lower recirculation region is (0.524 m, −0.455 m). Within the range of 100–400 mm from the liquid surface, the main stream and upper ring flow of molten steel have a significant impact on the solidification of the casting billet, and the distribution and longitudinal variation in the liquid phase ratio at different height sections are very obvious. At the exit of the mould, the average thickness of the inner arc and outer arc shells is 15.2 mm and 14.5 mm, respectively. The model can provide guidance for enhancing and optimizing the quality of continuous casting billets.