Mold Simulator Study of the Initial Solidification of Molten Steel in Continuous Casting Mold: Part II. Effects of Mold Oscillation and Mold Level Fluctuation

The surface quality of the continuous casting strands is closely related to the initial solidification of liquid steel in the vicinity of the mold meniscus, and thus the clear understanding of the behavior of molten steel initial solidification would be of great importance for the control of the quality of final slab. With the development of the mold simulator techniques, the complex interrelationship between the solidified shell surface profile, heat flux, shell thickness, mold level fluctuation, and the infiltrated slag film was well illustrated in our previous study. As the second part, this article investigated the effect of the mold oscillation frequency, stroke, and mold level fluctuation on the initial solidification of the molten steel through the conduction of five different experiments. Results suggested that in the case of the stable mold level, the oscillation marks (OMs) exhibit equally spaced horizon depressions on the shell surface, where the heat flux at the meniscus area raises rapidly during negative strip time (NST) period and the presence of each OMs on the shell surface is corresponding to a peak value of the heat flux variation rate. Otherwise, the shell surface is poorly defined by the existence of wave-type defects, such as ripples or deep depressions, and the heat flux variation is irregular during NST period. The rising of the mold level leads to the longer-pitch and deeper OMs formation; conversely, the falling of mold level introduces shorter-pitch and shallower OMs. With the increase of the mold oscillation frequency, the average value of the low-frequency heat flux at the meniscus increases; however, it decreases when the mold oscillation stroke increases. Additionally, the variation amplitude of the high-frequency temperature and the high-frequency heat flux decreases with the increase of the oscillation frequency and the reduction of the oscillation stroke.