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Modeling Study of Molten Steel Turbulence Control
by SEN Design Improvement in a Conventional
Slab Caster
José de J. Barreto, Rudolfo D. Morales, Saul Garcia‐Hernandez,
Alfonso Najera‐Bastida,
and Ismael Calderon‐Ramos

A research study to improve the fluidynamics of a typical slab caster mould by redesigning the
submerged entry nozzle (SEN) ports through a complete mathematical analysis was carried out,
selected geometries are deeply tested and analyzed by physical modeling. For that a 1:1 scale
analogue water model was constructed; PIV techniques, red dye tracer injections, and ultrasonic
sensors are employed to study the molten steel flow patterns behavior. A comparison between
the original and the improved SEN designs indicate that both geometries show weak double roll
flow pattern at shallow position, but the two‐roll flow pattern is well developed at a deeper
position. The original design induces vortexes formation at either, shallow or deep immersion.
In the other hand, the proposed improved design, where the backflow is eradicated, maintains
good free surface stability without any vortex formation. The physical results indicate that the
backflow phenomenon induces jet fluctuations, which are reflected in a more turbulent free
surface, and its elimination provides more stable flow patterns in the mould.

1. Introduction unstable flows. In contrast, other authors claim that port

The control of molten steel flow in the continuous casting
mould has been recognized of paramount importance,
since has an influence on the bulk flow phenomena that
affect directly the metallurgical internal and surface slab
quality. The steel flow is highly turbulent and turns out to
be more complex when argon–steel flows are involved.
Molten steel turbulence induces non-symmetrical flows
and bath oscillations, which originate surface waves; their
magnitudes depend on metal and slag densities, melt
velocity at the free surface, SEN immersion depth and port
design as reported by Gupta et al.[1,2] Also, Lawson et al.[3]
reported bath oscillations and detected high and low
oscillation frequencies ranging from 5 to 0.2 Hz. Previous
published studies on port geometry, such as Najjar et al.[4]
report that circular ports generate swirling flows and have
larger spread angles than rectangular ports yielding
[
] Prof. J. de J. Barreto, Dr. S. Garcia-Hernandez, Dr. I. Calderon-Ramos
Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia, Metallurgy Graduate Center, Morelia,
Michoacan, Mexico
Email: iq_sagahz@hotmail.com
Prof. R. Morales
Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Instituto
Politecnico Nacional—ESIQIE, México City, Mexico
Dr. A. Najera-Bastida
Metallurgy Engineering, Instituto Politecnico Nacional-UPIIZ,
Zacatecas, Zac., Mexico
DOI: 10.1002/srin.201400131
geometry is not as important as the port angle to control
the steel flow.[5,6] Port angles play a transcendental
effect on the mould fluidynamics, upwards angles above
5 degrees induce higher bath oscillations, while down-
wards angles above 20 degrees does not reach the free
surface, especially at mould corners.[7] In a recent study,
regarding to the influence of SEN immersion depth and
SEN ports design on steel flow, Morales et al.[8] reported
that inefficient port area utilization promotes a backflow
increasing the bath oscillations.
Backflows at the upper port edge make flows to be
more independent from port angle at a cost of larger
bath oscillations and increasing the danger for deposition
of clogs close to this region. The reason behind this
effect is the flow separation phenomenon of the
boundary layer[9–11] formed by the downward flow
velocity with the internal SEN surface. In a recent
publication[12] the authors demonstrated, through math-
ematical modeling, that the jet angle could be governed
completely by the internal upper edge port radius
independently from the conventional angle. With the
modification of this geometric feature, it is possible to
eradicate the backflow phenomenon, and make the flow
independent from the conventional angle, having a
complete port utilization area improving the bulk flow
pattern. Bulk flow characterization was performed using
particle image velocimetry (PIV), ultrasonic sensors for
bath oscillations, and dye tracer injections. Thus, the main
aim of the present modeling study is the control the molten

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steel turbulence inside the mould to improve the bulk steel
flow by bringing on the internal upper edge port radius as a
new important parameter for SEN design.
2. Experimental Setup
2.1. Description of the Physical Model
A full scale analogue water model of a conventional slab
mould was developed and constructed using 12 mm thick
acrilic, mounted on a rectangular steel plate with the same
dimensions, as shown in Figure 1. To avoid acrilic bulging
by water pressure two steel belts surrounding the mould
were tightened. A summerged pump drives water through
control valves and a mass flowmeter to a tundish.
Two different SEN designs were tested, one with round
geometrical port and a conventional 08 inclination angle
(original design) and other with the same angle but
square ports and a 10 mm internal upper edge radius (R10).
The geometry of the mould, the SEN, and the SEN port
designs are shown in Figure 1a–d. A casting speed of
1 m/min was employed, with an air zone over the
meniscus of 0.1 m, together with the standard water
properties. Four cases were studied, all without angle port
inclination. Two cases with a typical cylindrical port design
(original) and two cases employing a rectangular port
design with a 10 mm internal upper edge radius.
2.2. Model Instrumentation for Flow Characterization and
Bath Level Fluctuations
2.2.1. Ultrasonic Sensors
Water level in the mould was monitored in real time using
six ultrasonic sensors, three were placed at each side of the
Figure 1. Experimental setup of the physical model, and geometry of mould and SEN in mm, a) mould upper view, b) mould lateral view,
c) SEN view, and d) SEN ports.
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SEN; one close to the narrow wall mould (sensor 1 and 6),
another at the middle between the SEN and the narrow
wall (sensor 2 and 5), and the last one close to the SEN
(sensor 3 and 4). The ultrasound signals emitted are
reflected by the water surface at an instantaneous position
to the sensors working also as receivers, these signals are
acquired by a data card; all measured water levels are
monitored and plotted on line and simultaneously stored
in a PC. Actual data acquisition frequency used in this work
was only 5 Hz since actual frequencies of flow phenomena
in continuous casting moulds are around this order of
magnitude or even smaller than 0.2 Hz.[3,13,14]
2.2.2. Particle Image Velocimetry
A PIV was used to characterize fluid velocities in the water
model. The PIV consists of a green double-pulsed Nd:YAG
laser with a wavelength of 532 nm. In order to obtain short
burst of light energy, the lasing cavity is Q-switched so that
the energy is emitted in 6–10 ns bursts opposed to pulses of
250 ms, which is the duration of the exciting lamp in the
laser cavity. Output energy of this laser is 10 mJ of Nd:YAG
laser from the fibber bundle. This energy increases with
light guides that can transmit 500 mJ of pulsed radiation
with and optical transmission that is greater than 90% at
532 nm. The interrogation area includes the area involving
half the upper side of the water mould model from the
SEN tip to the water meniscus. Further details of signal
processing and water seeding with neutral particles have
been presented previously.[15]
2.2.3. Dye Tracer Injection and Video Recording
A red dye tracer was injected as a pulse through an orifice
located in the upper side of the SEN in order to observe the
flow pattern as a function of the nozzle port geometry and
casting conditions; for this, a conventional video-camera
was fixed in front to the model in order to record the bulk
flow patterns.
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2.3. Mathematical Model
The developed model is based on the solution of the
Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible viscous flow,
together with the multiphase VOF model, and the
turbulence k–e model, which are embedded in the CFD
commercial software FLUENT. The inlet velocity is
calculated to maintain the desired casting speed at the
outlet. A pressure inlet condition is applied at the mould
top (p ¼ 101 325 Pa, T ¼ 300 K) to model the effects of a
system open to the atmosphere.[12]
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Test of the Original SEN Design at Shallow and Deep
Positions
As a first stage of this study, the original SEN design was
tested and analyzed under the same flow conditions at two
different immersions, 120 mm (shallow position) and
160 mm (deep position) measured from the bath level to
the upper port edge. To study the flow patterns, the
velocity and the vorticity fields were measured using PIV
technique at the upper frontal left side of the model, also
images from red dye injection were recorded and analyzed;
the results are shown in Figure 2–4.
Since the inclination angle of the original SEN port is
zero, the velocity vectors field shows a jet with straight
trajectory towards the narrow face. Due to this, the jet
impacts on this face at the upper half inducing a small
upper roll flow yielding a single roll flow pattern, which is
intermittent for the shallow position and better defined
for the deep position (Point 1, Figure 2). In addition, at
shallow position a small fluid fraction coming from the
Figure 2. Velocity fields measured by PIV, original SEN—08, a) immersion 120 mm, and b) immersion 160 mm.
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upper initial part of the jet moves upwards; later, at a deep
position, its intensity increases generating a small
recirculation close to the SEN (Point 2, Figure 2). This
recirculation shows considerable intensity, which may be
the cause of the vortexes observed beside the SEN. It is
imperative to indicate that this recirculation shows a
characteristic tendency to direct the flow to the upper edge
of the nozzle port. This tendency could be attributed to the
backflow observed and described by the mathematical
analysis carried out and presented in a previous publica-
tion.[12] Focusing on the lower roll flow, it can be
mentioned that it does not show a clear structure at
shallow position, but at deep position shows better
definition (Point 3, Figure 2). Related to the intermittency
of the upper roll flow at shallow position, it is possible to
associate this to the steel flow turbulence in this zone,
which is correlated by the vorticity. This variable in the two
dimensional field perpendiculars to the sheet in a flow is
defined by,
@ui @uj
zz ¼  ð1Þ
@xj @xi
The PIV data gives the ui and uj components, which
are derived through a finite difference scheme, substi-
tuted in Equation (1) and plotted using a graphical
interface. The vorticity maps obtained by this approach
are shown in Figure 3. At shallow position, the vorticity
values in the mentioned zone (Point 1, Figure 3a)
oscillated between 8 and 0 (1/s) indicating changes
on the flow patterns. However, at deep position (Point 1,
Figure 3b), the vorticity variations at the same zone
decrease to values close to zero, which mean that the flow
has more stability allowing the formation of the upper
roll flow. In addition, vorticity contours shows that at
deep position there is an increase of vorticity values
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Figure 3. Vorticity fields measured by PIV, original SEN—08, a) immersion 120 mm, and b) immersion 160 mm.

close to the SEN, which is produced by the recirculation origin in the jet stability. In order to observe the bulk fluid
(Point 2, Figure 3b). movement and the jets behavior, video was taken and
Since the delivered flow is only controlled by the recorded and some images of the dye injection are
internal SEN geometry, all these variations must have its presented in Figure 4a. In this figure, it can be seen that

Figure 4. Dye tracer injection at different times—immersion 160 mm, a) original SEN, and b) SEN R10.

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the jets show different patterns; one of them is more
directed towards the free surface, and the other shows a
deeper penetration tendency. These variations produce
asymmetrical flow patterns; for instance, while the right
lower roll flow is shown by the tracer, the left one is not
present yet. Moreover, this figure shows that a great
amount of fluid reaches faster the free surface, which
produces an unstable bath level. In order to study this
phenomenon, six ultrasonic sensors where located along
and over the free surface, and video was taken near the
fluid level, the results are shown in Figure 5 and 6.
Photographs (a) and (b) show the bath surface topography
for the original SEN design; as the induced flow in the
mould promotes overlapping and folding waves producing
high meniscus instability. These results show standing
waves of large amplitude when the SEN is at the shallow
position and these waves reduce its intensity when the SEN
is immersed to the deep position. At deep position
therefore, the level is more stable than at the shallow
position where the bath oscillation is stronger. Addition-
ally, regardless the SEN immersion, the flow at the free
surface shows the formation of short lifetime vortexes,
which were detected spontaneously at each side of the
SEN.
This previous analysis indicates that the jet has not a
stable pattern, and considering that the casting speed is
1.0 m/min, the jet instability must come from the SEN
deliverance; indicating that at least there is one flow
phenomenon producing this instability. However, using
Figure 5. Original SEN—08, immersion 120 mm, a) and b) free surface deformation, c) and d) bath oscillations measured by ultrasonic
sensors.
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the PIV technique it was not possible to detect any
phenomena inside the SEN due to the excessive reflections
produced by the acrylic material. The incomplete occu-
pancy of the cross section area of the ports induces
backflows of intermittent nature. Intermittent flows
through the upper side of the port induces separating
flows from the jet as seen in Figure 2, marked with number
“2.” Thus, the hypothesis that the jet variations have its
origin on the backflow phenomenon can be established
from the previous numerical results by the authors.[12]
This first analysis stage ended co-validating the
mathematical simulation (Figure 7b) with the PIV
measurements results (Figure 7a). It is important to
remark that the numerical results show the average
velocity fields; for that, it is possible to observe a well-
developed double roll flow. However, the physical PIV
average values show the lower roll flow, but does not show
a clear upper roll flow attributed to the intermittence of its
occurrence as mentioned previously. In order to have a
more quantitative comparison, a line drawn at the half
distance between the SEN and the narrow face was taken
to acquire velocity values (Figure 7c). This comparison
shows a very good agreement with a small discrepancy at
the upper zone due to the effect of the jet instability
observed in the physical model. Since both flow patterns
are quite similar in trajectory and intensity, and only in the
numerical results it is possible to detect the presence of the
backflow phenomenon, the jet instabilities observed in the
physical results can be attributed to the backflow.
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Figure 6. Original SEN—08, immersion 160 mm, a) and b) free surface deformation, c) and d) bath oscillations measured by ultrasonic
sensors.
3.2. Test of the Improved SEN Design at Shallow and Deep
Positions
Once the original design has been analyzed, a modified
design is now tested on the physical model. Following the
same idea of the previous analysis, velocity fields
measured by PIV technique at the upper left frontal
quadrant of the mould for two SEN immersions (120 mm-
shallow and 160 mm-deep) are shown in Figure 8a and b.
The numerical results showed that considering a 10–
70 mm internal upper port radius, a total filled exit port
area is achieved; the jet shows deeper penetration reaching
a deeper impact point at the narrow faces, reducing the
ascending stream velocity; similar results are observed
during the physical modeling at the two immersions. Since
the jet is less compact, the bulk velocity decreases allowing
better steel flow control. At shallow position, Figure 8a, the
upper roll flow is more stable than in the original design
(Point 1), the upwards stream coming from the upper
initial part of the jet show less intensity (Point 2), and the
lower roll flow is clearly formed (Point 3). At deep position,
Figure 8b, the same three observations can be pointed out,
but with minor intensity due to the deeper immersion.
Due to these changes, the vorticity fields show for both
immersions lower values implying less turbulence, as
shown in Figure 9a and b. Focusing at the free surface
level, vorticity for the upper roll flow zone shows less
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variation with time for both immersions (Point 1) and
closer to the SEN the vorticity values are around 3 (1/s)
(Point 2); this means that vortex formation is less probable,
in agreement with the physical modeling where there was
not vortexes presence. All these flow patterns variations
could be attributed to the fact that the backflow
phenomenon has disappears, and the delivering port uses
now the total exit area as demonstrated previously by the
numerical simulation.[12] It is important to mention that
the instantaneous PIV fields for the shallow position show
the presence of the typical upper roll flow; however, the
upper roll flow occurrence was still intermittent and the
average fields did not show it. To have a complete view of
the flow patterns inside the mould, red dye tracer was
performed and the results are shown in Figure 4b; it can be
observed that the jets have a more symmetric flow pattern
allowing better fluid feeding to the meniscus and more
symmetrical lower roll flows. The lower recirculations
show a more uniform structure, and the bath surface
shows good stability and does not show vortex formation.
The results show an evident fluidynamic improvement;
consequently, a reduction of the bath oscillations is
expected. To corroborate this hypothesis, the free surface
behavior was analyzed; for this, video was taken and its
fluctuations were measured by the six ultrasonic sensors.
The results are shown in Figure 10 and 11 for the cases
previously discuses. These figures show, as expected, that
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Figure 7. Comparison between PIV and mathematical results, original SEN, a) PIV measurement, b) numerical results at the central
mould, and c) velocity values at a line drawn at half distance between the SEN and the narrow face.

Figure 8. Velocity fields measured by PIV, R10 SEN—08, a) immersion 120 mm, and b) immersion 160 mm.

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Figure 9. Vorticity fields measured by PIV, R10 SEN—08, a) immersion 120 mm, and b) immersion 160 mm.

the wave amplitude in the shallow position has decreased
(Figure 10) in comparison to the original configuration; the
free surface distortion diminished even more when the
redesign SEN is at deep position (Figure 11). Again,
Photographs “a” and “b” in these figures show a less
fluctuating meniscus and more stable flow conditions at
the bath free surface as compared to the corresponding
photographs in Figure 5 and 6.
It is important to point out that the formation of
superficial vortexes was more sporadic and when this
phenomenon took place, these showed smaller intensity
and lifetime. In addition, the free surface deformations had
a fixed position with a high frequency of incidence,
similarly to the occurrence in the original SEN cases. Then,
it is clear that the redesigned SEN has improved the general
flow patterns.[12]

Figure 10. SEN-R10—08, immersion 120 mm, a) and b) free surface deformation, c) and d) bath oscillations measured by ultrasonic
sensors.

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Figure 11. SEN-R10—08, immersion 160 mm, a) and b) free surface deformation, c) and d) bath oscillations measured by ultrasonic
sensors.
This second stage of the analysis ended, with the
physical and mathematical results co-validation shown in
Figure 12. This figure shows good agreement on the flow
patterns (Figure 12a and b). However, in the physical
results the intermittent upper roll flow is not observed for
the reason explained above, but the average mathematical
profiles do show it, which agrees with the transient PIV
results. The numerical results show that the backflow
phenomenon is not present, and then it is possible to
establish that this phenomenon produces strong fluctua-
tions on the jet stability and its elimination allows better
control of the jet and diminishes the level fluctuations.
Additionally, to have a quantitative comparison, a line
drawn at the half distance between the SEN and the narrow
face was taken to acquire velocity values (Figure 12c).
These values show a good agreement with small discrep-
ances. From the results, it can be established that the
actual port modifications are good enough to eliminate the
backflow phenomenon and consequently the fluidynam-
ics in the mold will be improved.
3.3. Bath Level Fluctuation
Finally, the average free surface deformation, measured
and calculated, are compared considering the maximum
deformation values, where a positive sign is considered
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above the flat free surface and a negative sign is considered
below the flat free surface. The results show that the higher
values are located close to the narrow face (positive) and at
half position between the SEN and the narrow face
(negative), at left and right sides of the SEN, as shown in
Figure 13. Original SEN shows strong deformation along
the free surface; these corroborate the previously discus-
sion since this SEN design gives a very turbulent pattern at
the steel bath level. The innovative SEN shows good
feeding to the meniscus since the corner deformation is
clear, but it has a better level stability since less
deformation at the middle position is observed. These
modeling results allow concluding that eradicating the
backflow phenomenon produces a more stable free
surface.
4. Conclusions
In order to improve the fludynamics in a typical slab
mould and eradicate the backflow phenomenon, a SEN
port redesign was under taken using modeling techniques,
and the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The original and the redesign SEN show weak
double roll flow patterns at shallow position, but
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Figure 12. Comparison between PIV and mathematical results, SEN R10—08 a) PIV measurement, b) numerical results at the central
mould, and c) velocity values at a line drawn at half distance between the SEN and the narrow face.

the two-roll flow pattern is better developed at deep

position.
(2) The original design shows strong turbulence at the free
surface inducing the formation of vortexes either at
shallow or deep immersion depths, as a consequence
of the backflow phenomenon.
(3) The proposed SEN design eradicates the backflow
phenomenon and shows a well-controlled turbulence
maintaining stable free surface without vortex forma-
tion. This innovation design always reported less
turbulence than the original.
(4) The physical modeling corroborates that the imple-
mentation of the internal upper port radius eliminates
the backflow phenomenon producing a better stability
of the jet and consequently improves the fluidynamics
with better stability in the mould.
(5) The physical and mathematical modeling results
Figure 13. Physical and mathematical average values of the maximum show good agreement; therefore, the models can be
free surface deformation. (M) Mathematical and (P) Physical. considered co-validated.

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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Council
of Science and Technology (Mexico) and the institutions
IPN, ITM, SNI, and PRODEP for all support given to carry
out this work.
Received: April 15, 2014;
Published online: September 25, 2014
Keywords: physical modeling; numerical simulation; slab
mould; SEN design
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