Modern tundishes plays an important role of refining treatments to improve the quality and purity of casted steel. Purity of steel is defined by the non-metallic inclusions in the steel product, including their size, quantity, distribution, chemical composition and mineralogy. The aim of presented studies was to investigate the number and distribution of non-metallic inclusion in individual billets casted in a six-strand tundish. The industrial measurements, performed during stable production conditions at the continuous steel casting (CSC) plant, were performed for different tundish working space configurations. Analysis of the size and number of non-metallic inclusions has been done on the metallographic samples using light microscope. Experimental studies were supported with numerical simulations using large eddy simulations (LES) method. A modified boundary condition describing inclusion separation at the liquid steel surface was implemented in commercial code AnsysFluent.Experimental results concern size distribution of inclusions in billets for current tundish configuration showed big differences between casted ingots. Numerical results shown the domination in the number of inclusions occurring in the nozzles number 3 and 4 (for basic tundish configuration) and in the nozzles number 2 and 5 (for tundish with turbulence inhibitor). The reason for that is the change in configuration tundish working space, that has an impact on the flow field inside the tundish. Experimental measurements performed for proposed modified tundish configuration (with turbulence inhibitor) shown that those differences are much smaller, which in consequence has an influence in higher quality of continuously casted ingots for individual strand of CSC.

This paper presents the experimental determination of variations in the chemical composition of a steel bath after introducing an alloy addition, and a numerical simulation corresponding to the conditions in an industrial ladle furnace. The numerical model and experimental studies aimed to determine the mixing time necessary for achieving the assumed degree of chemical homogenisation under the conditions of operation of the ladle furnace. In addition, through the numerical studies, the metal bath mixing time for a variable position of the porous plug is investigated.

The liquid steel flow structure in the tundish has a very substantial effect on the quality of the final product and on efficient casting conditions. Numerous model studies are being carried out to explain the effect of the tundish working conditions on casting processes.It is necessary to analyze the structure of liquid steel flow, which is strongly supported with numerical modeling. In numerical modeling, a choice of a proper turbulence model is crucial as it has a great impact on the flow structure of the fluid in the analyzed test facility. So far most numerical simulations has been done using RANS method (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations) but in that case one get information about the averaged values of the turbulent flow. In presented study, numerical simulations using large eddy simulations (LES) method were used and compared to RANS results. In both cases, numerical simulations are carried out with the finite-volume commercial code AnsysFluent.Keywords: tundish, continuous casting, numerical modeling Struktura przepływu ciekłej stali w kadzi pośredniej ma bardzo istotny wpływ na warunki odlewania, a tym samym na jakość wyrobu końcowego. W celu określenia struktury przepływu w kadzi oraz analizy jej wpływu na warunki pracy urządzenia do ciągłego odlewania stali (COS) prowadzone są liczne badania modelowe: fizykalne i numeryczne.W modelowaniu numerycznym, wybór odpowiedniego modelu turbulencji jest kluczowy, ponieważ ma ogromny wpływ na strukturę przepływu płynu w analizowanym obiekcie badawczym. Do tej pory, największą ilość symulacji numerycznych przeprowadzono z wykorzystaniem metody RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations). W przypadku tej metody dostajemy jednak jedynie informacje o uśrednionych wartościach przepływu turbulentnego, z jakim mamy do czynienia w kadziach pośrednich. W prezentowanej pracy natomiast, przedstawiono wyniki symulacji numerycznych przeprowadzonych z wykorzystaniem metody wielkich wirów (Large Eddy Simulation, LES) i porównano je z wynikami RANS. W obu przypadkach, symulacje numeryczne zostały przeprowadzone z wykorzystaniem komercyjnego kodu AnsysFluent.

Presented paper describes model investigations carried out on six-strand continuous casting tundish. Numerical analysis is based on simulations performed with the use of commercial code ANSYS Fluent. The analysis concerns determination of hydrodynamic conditions of the flow in the analysed tundish, with nominal capacity of 22 Mg, and its optimisation by modification of the flow structure in the tundish working area. Four different flow control devices (FCD) were proposed.Results of investigations presented in the paper include the distribution of velocity vectors and distribution of temperature and turbulence kinetic energy. Additionally, for more detailed comparative analysis, the macroscopic characteristics of residence time distribution (RTD) in the reactor, and the transition zone ranges were determined for each of the variants.

This study shows research results of behaviors of nonmetallic inclusions (NMIs) in a tundish represented by water model. The object under investigation is a two‐strand trough‐type continuous casting tundish operating in one of the Polish steel plants. Hollow glass microspheres with diameters ranging from 10 to 140 μm are used for testing, which represents the NMIs. The distribution process of microspheres is investigated; the qualitative analysis (visualization) and quantitative analysis (using a laser particle counter) of microsphere distribution (movement) are performed. Based on the obtained results, it is found that the analyzed tundish is not of optimal design, in terms of removing small NMIs, as they are conducted in a stream of liquid flowing at the bottom of the tundish, moving directly into nozzles of the tundish. Their movement is caused by the shaped liquid‐flow phenomena in the tundish working space. The test results help to validate a numerical model, which can be used in further studies to redesign the working space of the tundish. The positive result of verification facilitates to obtain a tool for implementing flow optimization in terms of receiving high metallurgical purity of slabs.