Study of the Effects of the Mold Surface and Solid Mold Flux Crystallization on Radiative Heat Transfer Rates in Continuous Casting

Radiative heat transfer plays a crucial role in the meniscus area of a steel continuous casting machine. However, the study of radiation across the mold flux and copper molds is very difficult due to the harsh environment and highly transient nature of the phenomena in continuous casting molds. By using an infrared radiation emitter, a radiative heat flux was able to be applied to a copper mold with different top surfaces to observe their effects on the radiative heat transfer. The mold surface was covered with solid slag disk subjected to the radiative heat flux to simulate the radiative heat transfer phenomena in continuous casting. The solid slag disk could either be glass or a mixture of glass and precipitated crystals. The effect of full crystallization of a slag disk was to reduce the heat transfer rate by 20.5%, as compared with a completely glassy sample.