Modeling of Inclusion Capture in a Steel Slab Caster with Vertical Section and Bending

Particles in molten steel, including argon-gas bubbles, slag droplets, and non-metallic inclusions, are removed into the surface-slag layer or captured by the solidifying steel-shell during continuous steel casting. Captured particles often become serious defects in the final steel product, so understanding particle-capture mechanisms is important for steel quality. Slab casters often have a straight mold and upper-strand prior to a curved lower-strand. The present work investigates particle capture in such a caster using computational modeling with a standard k-ε model for molten-steel flow, a discrete phase model for inclusion transport, and an advanced capture criterion for inclusion entrapment and engulfment into the steel shell. A new postprocessing methodology is presented and applied to predict inclusion-capture rates in commercial cast product. The locations and size distributions of particles captured into the shell, and actual capture rates are quantified. The model predictions are validated with ultrasonic-test plant measurements of the locations of large particles captured in a steel slab. The results reveal how large-inclusion capture accumulates in the beginning of the curved strand, leading to a capture band in the slab inside radius. Finally, the capture fractions and locations due to all capture mechanisms are compared for different inclusion sizes, and the implications are discussed.