凝固坯壳对高拉速板坯连铸结晶器液面特征的影响

采用1：1的水模型研究了高拉速条件下凝固坯壳对结晶器内的流场与液面特征的影响.结果表明：考虑凝固坯壳时结晶器内的流场出现了轻微的不对称现象,在高拉速条件下（2.4 m·min^-1）,有坯壳时结晶器液面最大平均波高与表面流速比没有坯壳时分别大31%和35%.对比有/无坯壳条件下自由液面形状可知：考虑凝固坯壳之后的液面变形程度比没有考虑时更大,更易导致卷渣的发生.液面波动的功傅里叶变换分析表明：考虑坯壳之后结晶器液面的高频率波动的振幅大于无坯壳的情形,所以考虑坯壳之后由于结晶器下部内腔变小,更多的流股能量集中在上回流区,使得上回流的湍流程度比无坯壳时要大,进而导致了液面波动与表面流速的增大.因此,为了缩小与实际连铸过程的差别,在高拉速的物理模拟中有必要考虑凝固坯壳的影响.     

Increasing the life of molds for casting copper and its alloys

The work of the molds intended for casting copper and copper alloys in semicontinuous casters for producing flat billets is considered. It is shown that, to increase the resistance of mold plates, the inner space of the mold should have a taper shape toward the casting direction and take into account the shrinkage of the linear dimensions of the ingot during its motion in the mold. The taper shape increases the intensity and uniformity of heat removal due to close contact between the ingot and the mold inner surface. Testing of new design molds under industrial conditions demonstrates that their resistance increases by a factor of 4.0–4.5. The taper effect of the mold plates is much more pronounced in their narrow faces.     

On continuous casting of steels using pulse-periodic cooling in a mold

The causes of the difficulties that appear during continuous casting of steels with a wide solidification range are analyzed. It is shown that these difficulties can be overcome using a mold design that provides a pulse-periodic change in the intensity of heat removal from the mold tube walls.     

高拉速薄板坯连铸保护渣剪切变稀性质

 针对高拉速薄板坯连铸保护渣现场使用过程中卷渣风险加剧、黏结报警频发等问题,通过使保护渣产生非牛顿流体行为,从而有效解决上述问题。该种新型保护渣具有剪切变稀的特性,即在较低剪切速率下具有较高黏度、在较高剪切速率下具有较低黏度。基于现场数据,计算出高拉速薄板坯结晶器钢液面表面区域的剪切速率为10~90 s-1,结晶器弯月面及以下区域的剪切速率可达120~1 600 s-1。采用旋转圆筒法研究了Al₂O₃对保护渣剪切变稀性质的影响。采用Oswald-De Waele幂律模型对剪切变稀行为进行了定量分析。结果表明,随着Al₂O₃含量的增加,保护渣剪切变稀性质先增强后减弱,Al₂O₃质量分数为8.61%的试样剪切变稀性质最强,其流动性指数最低达到0.764 4。研究发现,非牛顿流体保护渣具有的剪切变稀性质能够满足在结晶器钢液面表面区域和弯月面及以下区域内对保护渣黏度的要求。基于高拉速薄板坯连铸的具体工艺参数,建立结晶器内多相耦合模型,通过模型计算发现,保护渣的剪切变稀性质增强不仅会明显降低剪切卷渣的风险,提高结晶器弯月面区域液渣流入的均匀性,而且在结晶器弯月面及以下区域具有更厚的液态渣膜,更容易实现全程液态润滑,同时提高了渣耗量,进一步剖析了保护渣剪切变稀性质的作用效果。本研究为开发非牛顿流体高拉速薄板坯连铸保护渣提供了理论依据。     

凝固坯壳对高拉速板坯连铸结晶器钢水流动特征的影响

 采用全比例的水力学模型,利用刺激-响应法、波高传感器、流速仪研究了考虑凝固坯壳时高拉速板坯连铸结晶器内的钢水流动、液面特征与卷渣特征。结果表明：考虑凝固坯壳后钢液到达液面的时间缩短;在高拉速条件下(2.4 m/min), 有坯壳时结晶器液面最大平均波高与表面流速比没有坯壳时分别大31 % 和17.5 %,使卷渣更容易发生。其主要原因在于考虑坯壳后结晶器下部钢液的自由流动空间变小,下回流的钢液流动受到抑制,上回流的能量变大。所以在高拉速结晶器水模拟试验过程中,有必要考虑凝固坯壳的影响。     

高效连铸方坯结晶器的改进

结晶器是连铸高效改造的关键部件．为达到拉坯速度高、结构较合理等工艺要求,设计并制造一种全新的高效方坯结晶器,使１５０ｍｍ×１５０ｍｍ方坯拉坯速度最高达３．５ｍ／ｍｉｎ,且浇钢操作时不粘钢、不变形,钢坯质量好,具有耗用备件少、维修简便等优点     

Effect of mold EMS design on billet casting productivity and product quality

Increased casting productivity, especially with the introduction of high speed billet casting (HSBC), re-emphasized the importance of high performing mold electromagnetic stirring (M-EMS) in attaining the targets of productivity and product quality. To provide operating flexibility and to enhance metallurgical performance, adapting M-EMS design to the requirements of casting practice with either the open stream pouring or submerged entry nozzle (SEN) has become critical. In that context, it is especially important to assess the effects of EMS design parameters that control stirring velocity in the meniscus region and the rest of the mold. Such a control is the key to EMS compatibility with the continuous casting practice and its high metallurgical performance.In this paper, we discuss different M-EMS designs with reference to their metallurgical performance.     

MCCR产线低碳钢高拉速技术研究与应用

通过统计和分析现场数据,得出限制MCCR薄板坯连铸连轧低碳钢拉速提高的主要因素为结晶器热像图中的冷齿和结晶器液面波动,对冷齿和液面波动的成因进行研究,并提出有效控制措施。研究结果表明,结晶器热像图中的冷齿与结晶器弯月面凝固收缩特性相关,受冷却铜板厚度、碳当量、拉速及保护渣影响,反映到铸坯实物上为凹陷或者裂纹缺陷,需合理匹配形成最优参数组合,以降低因冷齿造成的漏钢风险。当结晶器铜板厚度减薄量在6.7%以内时,一冷水维持原设计流量;当结晶器铜板厚度减薄量在6.8%～11.1%时,拉速4.0 m/min以上时需降低10%的一冷水流量;当结晶器铜板厚度减薄量在11.2%～15.6%时,所有拉速下需降低18%的一冷水流量,同时使用高碱度B型保护渣。针对高拉速下结晶器液面波动问题,通过数值模拟研究浸入式水口插入深度、拉速、结晶器断面宽度及电磁制动等参数对结晶器内流场和温度场的影响规律,得到不同拉速和不同断面条件下电磁制动电流的合理配置,使得拉速达到5.5 m/min时钢液面最大流速仍小于0.3 m/s。上述研究结果应用后,结晶器冷齿问题得到有效缓解,110 mm厚的薄板坯最高拉速达到5.8 m/m...     

高拉速板坯连铸结晶器浸入式水口的水模型研究

利用染料示踪法,采用波高传感器和旋桨式流速仪在全比例水模型中研究了四种浸入式水口(A型:凹型,15°(上角度)-15°(下角度);B型:凸型,15°-15°;C型:凹型,40°-15°,D型:凸型,40°-15°)下板坯连铸结晶器内的流场和液面特征.发现采用凹型水口时结晶器液面的波动与表面流速均小于凸型水口.凹型水口F的表面流速变化的功率(频率为0.03~0.1Hz)比凸型水口小约50%,所以凹型水口更有利于减少结晶器内卷渣的发生.在高拉速条件下(拉速为1.8m·min^-1,较大的水口出口上角度有利于抑制水口出口流股的漩涡流,进而减少剪切卷渣的发生.四种水口中C型水口条件下结晶器液面的表面流速最小,约为0.27m·s^-1,为提高拉速留有较大余地,所以适合高拉速连铸的最佳浸入式水口为C型.     

Thermomechanics of the cooling stage in casting processes: Three-dimensional finite element analysis and experimental validation

A thermomechanical three-dimensional (3-D) finite element analysis of solidification is presented. The heat transfer model is based on a multidomain analysis accounting for noncoincident meshes for the cast part and the different mold components. In each subdomain, a preconditioned conjugate gradient solver is used. The mechanical analysis assumes the mold is rigid. A thermoelastic-viscoplastic rheological model is used to compute the constrained shrinkage of the part, resulting in an effective local air gap width computation. At each time increment, a weak coupling of the heat transfer and mechanical analyses is performed. Comparisons of experimental measurements and model predictions are given in the case of a hollow cylindrical aluminum alloy part, showing a good quantitative agreement. An application to an industrial aluminum casting is presented, illustrating the practical interest of thermomechanical computations in solidification analysis.     

Analysis of thin-slab casting by the compact-strip process: Part I. Heat extraction and solidification

This article reports on an extensive experimental and modeling study undertaken to elucidate the thermal evolution of thin slabs during their passage through the mold and secondary cooling system of a compact-strip process (CSP) caster. In industrial trials covering a wide range of casting conditions, temperature measurements were carried out at (1) the copper plates of an operating mold and (2) the stainless steel frame of an operating grid. Separately, water-flux and heat-flux distributions generated by the several water and air-mist sprays produced by the different nozzles used in the process were determined in the laboratory. The analysis of these pieces of information, together with a detailed consideration of the geometry of the mold and the arrangement of the rolls and spray nozzles, were used to establish appropriate boundary conditions for a two-dimensional, curvilinear-coordinate, unsteady-state heat-conduction model for predicting the solidification rate of thin slabs. The predicted slab surface temperatures show very good agreement with corresponding measured values taken in plant tests at several locations along and across the secondary cooling system. The validation trials involved a wide range of low- and medium-carbon steel grades, casting speeds, slab widths, and secondary cooling strategies. The second part of this article combines the solidification model with a creep model of the shell to yield useful information about design parameters and casting conditions associated with undesirable bulging behavior of the slab after the last support roll, which causes stoppage of the process by slab clogging at the pinch rolls.     

高速连铸结晶器内凝固传热行为及其均匀性控制

从分析高拉速包晶钢板坯连铸结晶器内凝固传热行为特征入手,首先阐明拉速对结晶器内的界面热阻、凝固坯壳的温度与应力分布的影响规律,研究发现拉速超过1.6 m·min?1时,界面热阻明显增加,拉速由1.4 m·min?1提升至1.6 m·min?1和1.8m·min?1时,出结晶器坯壳厚度相应减少约10%,其发生漏钢的危险不断增加;在此基础上,阐述了结晶器的内腔结构、保护渣、振动与液面控制等控制结晶器内坯壳凝固均匀性的相关技术。要实现高速连铸,首要应考虑结晶器内腔结构的优化设计,使其能更好地迎合凝固坯壳的生长,研制适合包晶钢等凝固特点的专用连铸保护渣至关重要,铸坯鼓肚控制也是保障高拉速液面稳定的关键。      

Technological developments for high speed casting of sensitive steel grades

Several years ago, in response to the trends in continuous casting technology, Paul Wurth undertook a program to develop and improve casting technology for high quality billet and bloom production. The goal of the program was to simplify the casting machine and design the equipment to be able to produce high quality billets at higher casting speeds. The approach was three-fold: first, design a new oscillation system with more control and flexibility; second, improve the spray conditions to support the higher casting speeds; and third, implement longer mold designs.     

Theoretical model of the two-chamber pressure casting process

This article develops a theoretical model of the two-chamber pressure casting process. In this process, a molten metal drop, formed by arc melting a solid ingot, falls into a conical crucible attached to a gas-filled, porous cast mold. An energy-based formulation of the mold-filling process is developed which focuses on the drop’s motion within the crucible and mold cavity and on pressure evolution within the mold cavity. The model shows that drop acceleration into the mold depends on three dimensionless parameters, the Euler number, Eu, the Froude number, Fr, and the pressure loss coefficient, K, across the crucible exit. These parameters are in turn determined by the mold’s permeability to the process gas, the characteristic initial pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the mold, the mold thickness, the process gas viscosity, and the metal density. Drop acceleration into the mold compresses trapped gas within the mold cavity; under most conditions, pressure decay due to leakage of the trapped gas through the mold occurs at a faster rate than inertial compression. Under these circumstances, a downward acting pressure force, having a magnitude determined by the Euler number, acts on the drop. At low Froude numbers, however, gas compression occurs at a faster rate than leakage-induced decay and the pressure force acts upward, again with a magnitude determined by Eu. Scaling arguments show that friction and evaporation recoil forces are negligible in determining drop motion, while surface tension, pressure, drop inertia, and gravity are dominant. In addition, solidification effects are shown to be negligible.     

Operation of molds and mandrels during electroslag casting of hollow billets

One method of electroslag casting is the remelting of a metallic consumable electrode in a short movable mold as they move toward each other. The main advantages of this method are the saving of copper required to make the mold, a decrease in the electric-furnace height, and a decrease in energy consumption. The most important disadvantage of this method is the erosion of the mold and mandrel copper walls. The wear of the mold’s copper walls depends on the electric current through the mold and the specific surface power released in the slag bath-mold wall contact zone. The erosion-induced fracture of the movable mold and mandrel cannot be fully avoided during electroslag casting; however, the wear (fracture) rate can be reduced using several measures. A procedure is proposed for calculation of a rational geometry of the broadened portion of the movable mold in order to estimate the electrical parameters and the wear resistance of the equipment designed for the electroslag casting of hollow steel billets.     

Interface heat transfer in investment casting of aluminum alloys

Via design of experiments and using a newly developed inverse method, the heat-transfer boundary conditions in the investment casting process have been studied. It has been shown in the past that these conditions, expressed as interface heat transfer coefficients (HTCs), vary during alloy solidification and cooling. In this work, the authors have studied the additional effects of alloy solidification range, metallostatic head, investment shell thickness, preheat, and interface geometry. This provides an improved set of relationships from which to build realistic boundary conditions into computer simulations of shape casting. Using axisymmetric solidification experiments and numerical inverse analysis, it is shown that the effect of metallostatic head is only significant for long freezing-range alloys. Increasing shell mold thickness and preheat also have effects that are alloy-dependent, and significant differences in thermal behavior are reported between the alloy/mold interface and the alloy/core interface. The four alloys used in the experiments are aluminum-based and vary from short freezingrange commercially pure to an alloy with a freezing range of 120 °C.     

连铸工序质量控制实践

为了提高铸坯质量,确保铸机的稳定顺行,武钢某炼钢厂通过一系列工艺优化措施,采用了包括中间包自动开浇、结晶器液面自动控制系统优化、结晶器漏钢预报系统优化等措施,取得了良好效果:中间包自动开浇率上升到98%以上,铸坯综合改判率控制在0.2%以下。     

304不锈钢连铸过程中结晶器渣圈形成机制

 在连铸过程中,结晶器易结渣圈是造成铸坯产生缺陷的主要原因之一。对304不锈钢板坯连铸过程中结晶器保护渣原渣、距开浇60 min时的液渣和渣圈的化学组成、理化性能、结晶矿相以及渣圈形貌结构进行对比分析。结果表明,连铸过程中TiO2和Cr2O3从钢液进入液渣生成高熔点氧化物,使液渣和渣圈的完全熔化温度和黏度显著增大,碱度、转折温度降低。液渣与渣圈的物相以枪晶石和钙铝黄长石为主。高熔点相钙铝黄长石的大量析出以及TiO2和Cr2O3进入液渣使液渣黏度增大是渣圈形成并长大的重要原因。     

Furnace atmosphere effects on casting of eutectic superalloys

Control of furnace atmosphere is a key factor in the use of silica-bonded alumina shell molds for the directional solidification of eutectic superalloys reinforced with tantalum monocarbide whiskers. The use of a furnace atmosphere which is simultaneously oxidizing to aluminum in the eutectic alloy and reducing to silica phases in the mold results in the formation of an alumina barrier layerin situ at the metal/mold interface and an absence of silica phases in the mold region adjacent to this barrier layer. The presence of this microstructure permits castings of eutectics at metal temperatures up to 1750°C.     

The formation of oscillation marks in the continuous casting of steel slabs

The formation of oscillation marks on the surface of continuously cast slabs has been studied by metallographically examining slab samples and by performing a set of mathematical analyses of heat flow, lubrication, and meniscus shape in the meniscus region of the mold. The metallographic study has revealed that, in agreement with previous work, the oscillation marks can be classified principally according to the presence or absence of a small “hook” in the subsurface structure at the base of individual oscillation marks. The depth of the oscillation marks exhibiting subsurface hooks varies with the carbon content, reaching a maximum at about 0.1 pct carbon, while the oscillation marks without hooks show no carbon dependence. The analysis of heat flow at the meniscus, which is based on a measured mold heat-flux distribution, indicates that depending on the level of superheat, the meniscus may partially freeze within the period of a typical mold oscillation cycle. Lubrication theory has shown that, owing to the geometry of the mold flux channel between the solidifying shell at the meniscus and the straight mold wall, significant pressure gradients capable of deforming the meniscus can be generated in the flux by the reciprocating motion of the mold relative to the shell. A force balance on the interface between the steel and the mold flux has been applied to compute the shape of the meniscus as a function of the pressure developed in the lubricating flux at different stages in the mold oscillation cycle. This has demonstrated that the “contact” point between the meniscus and mold moves out of phase with (by π/2), and has a greater amplitude than, the mold displacement so that just at, or near, the end of the negative strip time molten steel can overflow at the meniscus. From these studies a reasonable mechanism of oscillation-mark formation emerges which involves interaction between the oscillating mold and the meniscusvia pressure gradients in the mold flux, meniscus solidification, and overflow. The mechanism is consistent with industrial observations. E. TAKEUCHI, on study leave from Nippon Steel Corporation