Influence of Casting Tapers on the Temperature and Stress Fields of Large Width-to-Thickness Ratio Flat Steel Ingots
摘要
The flat steel ingot, distinguished by its substantial width-to-thickness ratio, provides notable benefits such as enhanced production efficiency and superior surface finish when compared to traditional thick materials. Nonetheless, it also introduces certain challenges, including constraints on the width-to-thickness ratio, increased production complexity, and a greater propensity for shrinkage porosity and cavity. In this investigation, various taper angles were designed and evaluated for a wide and thick rectangular steel ingot with an aspect ratio of 6.5. The temperature distribution, shrinkage defects, and stress field characteristics under different taper angles were thoroughly examined using numerical simulation software. The findings reveal that the taper angle plays a crucial role in determining the internal quality of rectangular steel ingots with a large aspect ratio. An increase in the taper angle promotes directional solidification, which effectively reduces shrinkage-related issues. Specifically, the occurrence of shrinkage defects drops from 3.4% in non-tapered ingots to 1.1% in ingots with a taper angle of 30‰, marking a significant 68% reduction in defect incidence compared to non-tapered ingots. Additionally, the simulation results show that stress levels within the core of the ingot are markedly higher than those at the surface, and increasing the taper angle effectively mitigates stress accumulation in the core region.