Transient Two-Phase Flow in Slide-Gate Nozzle and Mold of Continuous Steel Slab Casting with and without Double-Ruler Electro-Magnetic Braking

Transient mold flow could produce undesirable surface instabilities and slag entrainments, leading to the formation of defects during continuous slab casting of steel. In this work, two Large Eddy Simulations coupled with Discrete Phase Model are run, with and without MagnetoHydroDynamic model, to gain new insights into the surface variations of molten steel-argon gas flow with anisotropic turbulence in the slide-gate nozzle and the mold, with and without double-ruler Electro-Magnetic Braking (EMBr). The model calculations are validated with plant measurements, and applied to investigate the flow variations related to the slide gate on nozzle swirl, jet wobbling, and surface flow variations by quantifying the variations of velocity, horizontal angle, and vertical angle of the transient flow. Transient flow in the slide-gate nozzle bottom is almost always swirling, alternating chaotically between clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation. The clockwise swirl, caused by stronger flow down the same side of the nozzle as the open area near the Outside Radius side of the slide-gate middle plate, produces faster jet flow and higher velocity flow across the top surface of the mold. Counter-clockwise swirl produces slower jet and surface flow, but with more variations. The double-ruler EMBr decreases the asymmetry and duration of velocity variations during nozzle swirl flipping, resulting in less flow variations in the jet and across the surface in the mold.