Integration of Segregation Models for Continuous Casting
摘要
Continuous casting of steels involves physical phenomena including but not limited to heat transfer, fluid flow, solute distribution, solidification, and microstructure formation. As solidification progresses, there is an inhomogeneous variation of the solute in the product, which eventually is detrimental to the quality of the product. The aim of this work is to integrate macro and micromodels of solidification with use cases such as optimization of the process parameters, simulating the macro-segregation, and understanding the effect of sticker breakout formation. In this study, a process model for the continuous casting is integrated with a microstructure formation model to predict the macro-segregation at the system scale. Phase-field simulations using a solver based on the grand potential formulation are performed for the analysis of the solidification microstructure and solute segregation at the microscale. The solute segregation data obtained is given as input for the macroscale simulation wherein a numerical macrosegregation model is developed for length scale bridging. The integration of segregation models considers the diffusion of solutes in both the solid and liquid phases. The model was able to predict macrosegregation profiles, which match the experimental measurements available in the open literature more closely.