Temperature Differences in the Mold of a Continuous-Casting Machine with a New Cooling System

Attention focuses on the processes in the mold of a continuous-casting machine when using a patented new cooling system. In particular, the temperature differences in the steel billet and in the wall over the mold height are of interest in modeling the casting processes, because those differences affect the quality of the billet produced. A literature review covers research on the slag-forming mixture, which affects the heat flux from the billet to the mold. Non-Russian authors highlight mild cooling of the mold in selecting the slagforming mixture. Improvement of billet cooling in the mold permits improvement in the surface quality of the slab, extension of mold life, and increase in productivity. According to numerous authors, that may be accomplished by mathematical modeling of the process. The mold cooling depends directly on the convective motion of liquid steel in the mold, a topic addressed by many non-Russian authors. Researchers have considered systems in which the heat pipes in the cooling system of the mold are based on porous material, with water and air as the working fluid, and those in which liquid droplets on nanostructured superhydrophilic surfaces are evaporated. Mold cooling at steel casting rates higher than 7 m/min, accompanied by increase in the heat-flux density, is of great importance, as reflected by the number of studies published. The relations between the basic process parameters are determined by means of Rayleigh dimensionality theory. The basic parameter selected is the temperature difference in the metal mold wall, which depends on the casting rate (the time that the billet is in the mold), the properties of the steel (specific heat, thermal diffusivity), the thermal conductivity of the mold wall, and the temperature difference in the cast steel. In determining the exponents in the dimensionless relations, the available experimental data regarding the dependence of the heatflux density on the casting rate and the parameter of the steel are taken into account. On the basis of the ratio Δt_me/t_me obtained (where Δt_me is the mean temperature difference over the wall thickness and t_me is the mean wall temperature) for molds with the existing and new (patented) cooling systems, the temperature difference in the steel billet may be determined. For the two cooling systems compared, Δt_me1 = 450°C and Δt_me2 = 231°C. Consequently, Δt_me1/Δt_me2 = 1.95. The smaller temperature difference Δtme2 indicates milder cooling of the mold with the new cooling system.