Cold Model Study of the Surface
The recorded images were
Profile in a Continuous Slab Casting
Mold: Effect of Second Phase
DHARMENDRA GUPTA and A.K. LAHIRI
Most of the water modeling workV-TJ carried out so far
has simulated only the flow of liquid steel, without any slag
phase. But, in the actual system, a flux layer is used to
cover the meniscus. Only a few investigators have made an
attempt to simulate the slag phase over the metal. Sobo-
lewski and HurtuktSl used cork pieces in their water model
to simulate the slag entrainment in the melt. Tanaka et al. [91
made water modeling studies using oils as the second
phase. They studied the vortex depth formed at the oil-
water interface. The present work aims to characterize the
complete meniscus profile in the presence of a second
phase.
The dimensional analysis shows that to simulate the flow
of slag and metal, the model liquids should satisfy the fol-
lowing conditions:
~s,~,/~..o~, = ~2/tz, [l]
p.~/p~o,~,= p2/p, [2]
where/z i and Pi are the viscosity and density of the/th phase
and the subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the liquids used in the
model to simulate the metal and slag phases, respectively.
The viscosity and density of the slag phase depend on
the composition of casting powder and its temperature. At
the slag-metal interface, its temperature is expected to be
close to that of liquid steel, but its top face which is ex-
posed to atmosphere will be at a much lower temperature.
Besides, the temperature of the slag-metal interface also is
not constant. So, Eq. [1] cannot be exactly satisfied by the
cold model. However, if the average temperature of the flux
is assumed to be 1300 ~ the ratio of viscosities of slag to
metal is 15 or more. v~ The density ratio of slag to metal
is only about 0.375. But the density ratios of commonly
used simulating liquids, i.e., oil for the slag and aqueous
phases for metal, are much higher than this value. There-
fore, it is difficult to simulate the actual slag-metal system
using cold models.
The experiments were carried out to understand the two-
phase behavior using oils and a commercial grade zinc
chloride solution over a wide range of viscosity and density
ratios. Table I gives the relevant physical properties of the
oils and salt solutions used for the present experiment and
that of the slag and the liquid steel.
The molds used in the present investigation were made
up of Perspex glass. The details of the mold and the nozzle
configuration were discussed in our earlier work. t61The ex-
perimental conditions and the nozzle details are given in
Table II. Experiments were recorded using a TV camera
DR. DHARMENDRA GUPTA, formerly Research Scholar, Centre for
Advanced Study, Department of Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science,
is Assistant Manager, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd., Bangalore 560 001,
India. PROFESSOR A.K. LAHIRI is with the Centre for Advanced Study,
Department of Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012,
India.
Manuscript submitted November 14, 1994.
METALLURGICALAND MATERIALSTRANSACTIONSB
from the front side of the mold.
analyzed using an image analyzer (DT-IRIS 2851).
Figures l(a) and (b) show one-half of the meniscus pro-
file, without and with second phase, under identical oper-
ating condition. It can be noticed from the figures that the
meniscus is wavy with a crest and a trough. The meniscus
was not stationary and it fluctuated with time. Thereby, the
locations of the crest and the trough and the vertical dis-
tance between them, shown as A~ in Figure 2, varied with
time. For convenience of discussion, the maximum vertical
distance between the crest and the trough is termed as
"wave amplitude." The photographs shown in Figure 1 are
the ones having the maximum value of the wave amplitude.
Each of them was obtained by analyzing 100 successive
frames of 1/25-second interval, from a video recording. The
wave amplitude in Figure l(b) is much higher than that of
Figure l(a). In Figure l(b), the top of the oil phase is fiat
and the wave is formed at the oil-salt solution interface.
Figure 2 shows one-half of the mold schematically. If
the oil phase is assumed to be stagnant, using Bernoulli's
equation between planes 1 and 2, one can arrive at the
following relation:
[V22 - V,Z]/2g = A, (1 - Po/Pw) [3]
where Vt and Vz are the velocities normal to planes l and
2, respectively; g is the acceleration due to gravity; A~ is
the wave amplitude of the meniscus in the presence of the
second phase; and Po and pw are the densities of the oil and
salt solution, respectively.
When second phase is not present, Po is zero and Eq. [3]
simplifies to
[V22 - Vt2]/2g = A [4]
where A is the wave amplitude without second phase.
Equating Eqs. [3] and [4],
A~ = A ( p J ( p ~ - Po)) [5]
Figure 3 shows the measured average wave amplitudes
for two different flow rates. The wave amplitude value, At,
was obtained by averaging ten maximum wave amplitude
values from a video recording of 5 minutes. Each of these
maxima was obtained by analyzing 100 successive frames.
The data shown in Figure 3 were obtained using all three
oils as second phase and various salt solutions, shown in
Table I, as first phase. The wave amplitude values obtained
for plain water without any second phase were also in-
eluded in Figure 3. The linear relationship between At and
PJ(P~ - Po) is apparent from the figure. This further shows
that the slope, which gives the wave amplitude in the ab-
sence of second phase, is independent of the kinematic vis-
cosity of the primary phase (Table I). The slag-steel arrow
shown in Figure 3 indicates the ratio of densities in the
actual caster. The corresponding wave amplitude values for
flow rates of 2.0 and 2.4 m3/h are 8.5 and 13 mm, respec-
tively.
According to Eq. [5], the wave amplitude is independent
of the thickness of the second phase and its viscosity. Fig-
ure 3 clearly indicates that the wave amplitude value is
independent of viscosity. Experiments were carried out var-
ying the oil layer thickness between 5 and 50 mm. It
showed that the wave amplitude remained unchanged so
long as the oil layer kept the meniscus fully covered.
VOLUME 27B, AUGUST 1996~695
 Table I. Physical Properties of Oil and Salt Solution at 20 ~ and That of Slag and Liquid Steel

Number Item Density (kg/m s) Viscosity (kg/m/s) Kinematic Viscosity (m:/s)

1 oil A 830 4 X 10 -3 4.82 X10 -6
2 oil B 890 116 • 10 -3 130.33 X10 ,6
3 oil C 960 526 X 10 3 547.91 X10 -6
4 water I000 1 • 10 -3 1 •10 -6
5 solution A 1100 1.04 X 10 -3 0.92 X10-"
6 solution B 1230 1.16 X 10-3 0.94 X10 -6
7 solution C 1310 1.33 x 10 -3 1.02 X10 -6
8 solution D 1440 1.69 • 10-3 1.17 •10 -6
9 solution E 1570 2.54 x 10 -3 1.62 x10 -6
10 solution F 1650 3.85 x 10-3 2.33 X10 -6
11 solution G 1740 5.80 • 10 -3 3.33 •10 -6
12 slag at 1300 ~ t''~ 2700 to 2900 100 to 800 X 10 -s 34.5 to 296.3 •10 .6
13 liquid steel at 1550 ~ 7020 6.7 • 10 -3 0.95 • 10 -6

Table II. Experimental Conditions

1 mold dimension 640 (W) x 80 (T) • 600 (L)

(mm x mm X mm)
2 nozzle A B
port angle 0 deg downward 25 deg
NOZZLE OIL(t~
port diameter (mm) 20 25.4
bore (mm) 25.4 25.4
-- 1

thickness (nun) 14.6 14.6

3 flow rate (mVh) 1.8 to 4.8

Fig. 2--Schematic diagram of one-half o f the meniscus.

A/D = 0.577 Fr [6]

where A is the experimentally determined average value o f

the wave amplitude without second phase.
The Froude number, Fr, and the characteristic length, Lc,
are defined as
(a)
Fr = VVgLc [7]
L c = L, + (W/2)(tan ( a - /3/2)) [8]

where D is the nozzle port diameter; V is the nozzle exit

velocity o f the fluid; Li is the nozzle i m m e r s i o n depth; W
is the mold width; and c~ a n d / 3 are, respectively, the dis-
charge angle and spread angle o f the jet emerged from the
nozzle port.
From Eqs. [5] and [6],
AJD = 0.577 Fr,, [9]

where the modified Froude number, Frm, is defined as

(b)
Fig. 1--One-half of the meniscus profile: (a) without oil and (b) with oil
C, using nozzle B, immersion depth 75 ram, and flow rate 2.4 mS/h.
Our previous study, [61 without second phase, over a wide
range o f m o l d aspect ratios (1:4 to 1:10) and various nozzle
configurations shows that the dimensionless wave ampli-
tude is linearly related to the Froude n u m b e r in the follow-
ing manner:
Frm = (VVgLc)(p,/(A~ - Po)) [10]
Figure 4 shows the validity o f Eq. [9]. The figure in-
cludes present experimental data using all three types o f
oils as the second phase and that o f our previous study [6j
without any second phase.
The data used in Figures 3 and 4 were obtained with
nozzle immersion depth o f 100 to 200 mm. To verify the
applicability o f Eq. [9] for shallower immersion depths, a
few experiments were carried out in the immersion depths

696~VOLUME 27B, AUGUST 1996 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B

 FLOW RATE
40 ( ,,P/h, )

II o,u-(A) o * /
g /I OIL-(B) x .
E301-I OIL- {C) A 13 0 ,'/

Fig. 5--Meniscus profile for 50-ram nozzle immersion, using nozzle A

and flow rate 3.0 m3/h.

out that as long as the meniscus profile is similar to the one

shown in Figure I, Eq. [9] is applicable.
Equation [9] can be used to estimate the minimum thick-
ness of second phase required to cover the meniscus com-
pletely. As, for example, for oil B, salt solution G, nozzle
B, and immersion depth 100 mm, the flow rate is 2.4 mVh,
the Fr,,, is 0.411, and, by Eq. [9], the wave amplitude is
o 2.o 3.o 4.0 5.0 6.04 ram. To calculate Fr,,, the values of o~ and/3 are taken
as 31.84 and 22.67 deg respectively.E31 An experiment was
Po) carried out with the previously mentioned condition using
Fig. 3--Variation of wave amplitude with p./(p.. -- Po), using nozzle A
an oil thickness of 6 ram. It was observed that the oil was
and immersion depth 150 ram. just sufficient to cover the meniscus. In a continuous casting
mold, the liquid steel should be covered by the slag. Thus,
Eq. [9] might be useful as a rough estimate of the minimum
2.5 slag layer thickness. Further work is needed to validate this
WITH OIL o model using data obtained from an operating caster.
lad
WITHOUT OIL 9 /

~2.0
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Research
W and Development Center for Iron and Steel, Steel Authority
of India Ltd., for sponsoring this research project.

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data within 10 pct in all cases. When similar experiments,
at the same immersion depths, were performed with 0 deg
and upward 15 deg nozzles, the surface profile was found
to be distinctly different. Figure 5 shows one such meniscus
profile. Further investigation shows that in these cases, the
liquid jet directly reaches the meniscus before touching the
narrow sidewall of the mold. This results in choppy flows
and increased turbulence at the meniscus. Equation [9] is
not applicable in this case. The preceding discussion points

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B VOLUME 27B. AUGUST 19%--697