Effect of an Electromagnetic Brake on the Turbulent Melt Flow in a Continuous-Casting Mold

This article presents numerical and experimental investigations with respect to the fluid flow in the continuous-casting process under the influence of an external direct current (DC) magnetic field. Numerical calculations were performed by means of the software package CFX (Ansys, Inc., Canonsburg, PA) with an implemented Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)-SST turbulence model. The nonisotropic nature of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence was taken into account by specific modifications of the turbulence model. The numerical results were validated by flow measurements carried out in a small-scale mockup using the eutectic alloy GaInSn. The jet flow discharging from the submerged entry nozzle was exposed to a level magnetic field spanning across the entire wide side of the mold. The comparison between our numerical calculations and the experimental results displays a good agreement; in particular, we reconstructed the peculiar phenomenon of an excitation of nonsteady, nonisotropic, large-scale flow perturbations caused by the application of the DC magnetic field. Another important result of our study is the feature that the electrical boundary conditions, namely the wall conductivity ratio, have a serious influence on the mold flow while it is exposed to an external magnetic field.