Josef Domitner

Using a Two-Phase Columnar Solidification Model to Study the Principle of Mechanical Soft Reduction in Slab Casting

A two-phase columnar solidification model is used to study the principle of mechanical soft reduction (MSR) for the reduction of centerline segregation in slab casting. The two phases treated in the model are the bulk/interdendritic melt and the columnar dendrite trunk. The morphology of the columnar dendrite trunk is simplified as stepwise growing cylinders, with growth kinetics governed by the solute diffusion in the interdendritic melt around the growing cylindrical columnar trunk. The solidifying strand shell moves with a predefined velocity and the shell deforms as a result of bulging and MSR. The motion and deformation of the columnar trunks in response to bulging and MSR is modeled following the work of Miyazawa and Schwerdtfeger from the 1980s. Melt flow, driven by feeding of solidification shrinkage and by deformation of the strand shell and columnar trunks, as well as the induced macrosegregation are solved in the Eulerian frame of reference. A benchmark slab casting (9-m long, 0.215-m thick) of plain carbon steel is simulated. The MSR parameters influencing the centerline segregation are studied to gain a better understanding of the MSR process. Two mechanisms in MSR modify the centerline segregation in a slab casting: one establishes a favorable interdendritic flow field, whereas the other creates a non-divergence-free deformation of the solid dendritic skeleton in the mushy region. The MSR efficiency depends not only on the reduction amount in the slab thickness direction but also strongly on the deformation behavior in the longitudinal (casting) direction. With enhanced computation power the current model can be applied for a parameter study on the MSR efficiency of realistic continuous casting processes.

Modeling the Effects of Strand Surface Bulging and Mechanical Softreduction on the Macrosegregation Formation in Steel Continuous Casting

Positive centerline macrosegregation is an undesired casting defect that frequently occurs in the continuous casting process of steel strands. Mechanical softreduction (MSR) is a generally applied technology to avoid this casting defect in steel production. In the current paper, the mechanism of MSR is numerically examined. Therefore, two 25-m long horizontal continuous casting strand geometries of industrial scale are modeled. Both of these strand geometries have periodically bulged surfaces, but only one of them considers the cross-section reduction due to a certain MSR configuration. The macrosegregation formation inside of these strands with and without MSR is studied for a binary Fe-C-alloy based on an Eulerian multiphase model. Comparing the macrosegregation patterns obtained for different casting speed definitions allows investigating the fundamental influence of feeding, bulging and MSR mechanisms on the formation of centerline macrosegregation.

3D simulation of interdendritic flow through a Al-18wt.%Cu structure captured with X-ray microtomography

A central parameter to describe the formation of porosity and macrosegregation during casting processes is the permeability of the dendritic mushy zone. To determine this specific feature for a binary Al-18wt.%Cu alloy, flow simulations based on the Lattice Boltz-mann (LB) method were performed. The LB method allows an efficient solving of fluid flow problems dealing with complex shapes within an acceptable period of time. The 3D structure required as input for the simulations was captured with X-ray microtomography, which enables the generation of representative geometries for permeability investigations. Removing the eutectic phase from the measured dataset generated a remaining network of solid primary dendrites. In the simulations, a pressure gradient was applied to force the liquid through the free interdendritic channels. The permeability of the structure was then calculated from the resulting flow velocity pattern using Darcys law. To examine the influence of different boundary conditions on the results obtained, several simulations were conducted.

Application of Microprobe Analysis to the Reconstruction and Characterization of Dendritic Structures

The electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA or “microprobe”) is a powerful tool for nondestructive chemical analysis of solid materials. The work presented in this article proofs the concept of reconstructing three-dimensional (3-D) dendritic structures in steel based on 5 two-dimensional (2-D) EPMA concentration maps. The EPMA measurements are focused on the concentration distribution of Mn, which has a distinct microsegregation tendency in steel. Because the concentration maps must be taken from different depths of the investigated sample, serial sectioning of the sample is required for each microprobe measurement. These measured concentration maps are processed with a commercial software tool to smooth and to merge the maps, as well as to consider the temperature gradient that occurred during solidification on the microsegregation pattern. Afterward, the concentration maps are stored in a 3-D array, and the neighboring array entries with the same predefined threshold concentration value are connected with surfaces to build a 3-D dendritic structure. Because the concentration of certain alloying elements in the solid phase increases during the solidification process, it is possible to visualize the dendritic growth by increasing the solid fraction. Finally, a simple correlation was used to relate the specific surface area to the solid volume fraction of the dendrites. The obtained 3-D structures can be used for subsequent investigations in finite-element (FE) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation tools.

Thermo-mechanical modeling of dendrite deformation in continuous casting of steel

In the field of modern steelmaking, continuous casting has become the major manufacturing process to handle a wide range of steel grades. An important criterion characterizing the quality of semi-finished cast products is the macrosegregation forming at the centre of these products during solidification. The deformation induced interdendritic melt flow has been identified as the key mechanism for the formation of centreline segregation. Bulging of the solidified strand shell causes deformation of the solidifying dendrites at the casting’s centre. Hence, a fundamental knowledge about the solid phase motion during casting processes is crucial to examine segregation phenomena in detail. To investigate dendritic deformation particularly at the strand centre, a thermo-mechanical Finite Element (FE) simulation model is built in the commercial software package ABAQUS. The complex dendritic shape is approximated with a conical model geometry. Varying this geometry allows considering the influence of different centreline solid fractions on the dendrite deformation. A sinusoidal load profile is used to describe bulging of the solid which deforms the dendrites. Based on the strain rates obtained in the FE simulations the dendrite deformation velocity perpendicular to the casting direction is calculated. The velocity presented for different conditions is used as input parameter for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to investigate macrosegregation formation inside of a continuous casting strand using the commercial software package FLUENT.