Water-Modeling Study of the Surface

Disturbances in Continuous Slab Caster

DHARMENDRA GUPTA and A.K. LAHIRI

The present work is based on four static molds using nozzles of different port diameter, port
angle, and immersion depth. It has been observed that the meniscus is wavy. The wave am-
plitude shows a parabolic variation with the nozzle exit velocity. The dimensionless amplitude
is found to vary linearly with the Froude number. Vortex formation and bubble entrainment by
the wave occurs at the meniscus beyond a critical flow rate, depending upon the nozzle con-
figuration, immersion depth, and the mold aspect ratio.

I. INTRODUCTION 1:6.25, 1:8, and 1: 10, with constant mold thickness of

S T E E L makers, at present, are aiming for higher
casting speeds of liquid steel, giving equal importance
to the product quality. In a continuous-slab caster, a
higher casting speed leads to several problems, such as
higher meniscus turbulence and frequent vortex forma-
tion, resulting in entrainment of slag into the liquid steel.
Control of meniscus turbulence plays an important role
in attaining a better product quality.
With the growth of continuous casting, a large number
of studies have been reported about the fluid flow inside
the mold. tl-l~ Both theoretical and experimental works
have been made to assess the flow pattern inside the
mold. However, little attention has been paid to the dis-
turbances at the meniscus.
Matsushita e t a l . Is] studied the free surface fluctuation
in the actual system to find out the relationship between
the surface wave motion of molten steel near the mold
wall during casting and mold oscillation. They observed
the meniscus of the molten steel directly through a quartz
glass window mounted on the mold wall. They con-
cluded that the meniscus is not stationary but fluctuates
at the same period and phase as those of mold oscilla-
tion. Recently, Andrzejewski e t a l . tgl studied a fuU-scale
extra-wide water model (aspect ratio 1:13) to find out
the flow pattern, liquid-velocity profile, and the effect
of gas injection inside the mold. Based on their flow-
pattern studies, they recommended an optimum operat-
ing condition in terms of casting rate, immersion depth,
and gas injection rate. They also quantified the surface
fluctuation using a capacitance pressure sensor. This
study showed that discharge of metal from the nozzle
causes surface disturbances. None of these studies char-
acterizes the surface in detail. A program has been ini-
tiated to characterize the surface completely and study
the effect of various operating parameters on the surface
disturbances. The present work reports the water-model
study of a few static molds.
II. EXPERIMENTAL
Figure 1 shows the mold schematically. The aspect
ratios of the molds used for the experiment were 1:4,
DHARMENDRA GUPTA, Research Scholar, and A.K. LAHIRI,
Professor, are with the Department of Metallurgy, Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore, India.
Manuscript submitted May 10, 1993.
80 mm. The molds were made of perspex glass. Each
mold was provided with three chambers. The first cham-
ber was the actual mold of interest. The second and third
chambers acted as buffers. Using a pump, water was re-
circulated from the reservoir to the first chamber. The
recirculated water was fed into the mold through a noz-
zle. Figure 2 shows the configuration of a typical nozzle.
The nozzles were made of polypropylene. Three port di-
ameters, 20, 25.4, and 30 mm, and three port angles,
- 2 5 , 0, and + 15 deg., were used for the present ex-
periment (downward and upward port angles are shown
with negative and positive signs, respectively). All the
experiments were carried out in the casting-speed range
of 0.9 to 2.5 m/min.
To follow the meniscus, a reference line was drawn
along the wide sidewall of the mold. The experiments
were recorded using a TV camera from the front side of
the mold. The recording speed was 25 frames/s. All
fluid-flow photographs were taken very close to the wide
sidewall of the mold. It was observed that the surface
characteristics did not vary significantly along the
narrow side of the mold. An image analyzer
(DT-IRIS 2851) was used to analyze the surface images
obtained during the experiment.
III. R E S U L T S AND D I S C U S S I O N
Figure 3 schematically shows the observed meniscus
profile and the fluid-flow pattern inside the mold. The
meniscus profile keeps on fluctuating at any casting
speed. The profile is not always symmetric on either side
of the nozzle, but the time-average value shows a sym-
metric pattern. Figure 4 shows the average meniscus
profile along one-half of the wide sidewall of the mold.
The average is obtained from 20 frames. These frames
are chosen in a random fashion from a video recording
of about 5 minutes in length. The experimental condi-
tions are 0-deg. port angle, 20-ram port diameter,
150-mm immersion depth, 1:8 aspect-ratio mold, and
flow rate of 1.22 • 10 -3 m 3 / s . The figure shows that
along one-half of the wide sidewall, there is a crest and
a trough. No prominent wave formation occurs near the
nozzle. Only oscillating broken waves are found in that
region.
Figure 5 shows the displacement o f the meniscus near
the crest and the trough, 20 and 200 mm away from the

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B VOLUME 25B, APRIL 1994--227

 CRESTS /
i
TROUGHS
______7 /
NARROW \ \vonrEx I .OZZLE/ / ._ NARROW
SlOE WALL~ S I D E WALL

NORMAL .,~
MENISCUS
LEVEL
N OZZ LE

Fig. 3 - - S c h e m a t i c diagram of the meniscus profile and the fluid flow

pattern inside the mold.

;lid 'f~c -
Fig. 1 ~ Schematic diagram of the mold. u

o
~ 5,(
I 38,1 "~t
I 8

,.s,oEo,A. /" -5.( t I ~ I , I

300 200 100 0

t DISTANCE tram) t
NARROW NOZZLE
SIDE WALL
Fig. 4 - - A v e r a g e meniscus profile along the mold width; nozzle port
20 m m , port angle 0 (leg, immersion depth 150 m m , mold aspect ratio
1:8, and flow rate 1.22 x 10 -3 m3/s.

A 28.0
E
E

,,~ CREST
ZuJ
Z

8.0

T ROUGH
I
Fig. 2 - - S c h e m a t i c diagram of a typical nozzle.
o

-12.C . . . . . . I J I J J I i . . . . . i I I I
narrow sidewall, respectively, with time. The experi- 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
mental conditions are the same as those for Figure 4. TtME (SEC)
This figure is obtained from 25 successive frames. The Fig. 5 - - D i s p l a c e m e n t of the meniscus at the crest and trough with
figure indicates the extent of meniscus fluctuation at time; nozzle p r t 20 ram, port angle 0 deg, immersion depth 150 ram,
those two points within 1 second. mold aspect ratio 1:8, and flow rate 1.22 x 10 .3 m3/s.

228--VOLUME 25B, APRIL 1994 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B

 Figure 6 shows the standard deviation of displace-
ments along the mold width, obtained from the same
random frames shown in Figure 4. The meniscus fluc-
tuation is quite high in the trough region; the standard
deviation is 4.5 mm for the mean value of 4.1 mm. Sim-
ilarly, at the crest, the standard deviation is 2.7 mm for
the mean value of 12 ram. The reason for large standard
deviation at the trough can be followed from Figures 7(a)
through (e), which show five consecutive frames (1/25-
second interval) of the trough region. In these figures,
the nozzle, which is not shown, is on the right-hand side
and the narrow sidewall is on the left. Figures 7(a)
through (c) show that the trough is becoming deeper.
During this period, fluid enters the trough from the left.
Once a deep trough is formed (Figure 7(c)), water starts
flowing from the right, which leads to the filling up of
the trough (Figures 7(d) and (e)).
The streak lines in Figures 7(a) through (e) are owing
to entrapped air bubbles. The bubble entrapment takes
place in the trough region and it occurs in two ways.
Fluid coming from the narrow sidewall drags a layer of
air with it. This layer of air is entrapped in the form of
bubbles at the trough. This is the primary mechanism
of air entrainment. Figure 8 clearly shows this mecha-
nism. Second, once a deep trough is formed, the fluid
flowing from the nozzle side also entraps air bubbles at
the trough. The large entrapped air bubbles are clearly
seen in Figures 7(d) and (e).
Figures 7(a) through (e) show that the location of the
trough is not fixed on the horizontal plane. To highlight
the extent of meniscus oscillation within 1 second, 25
successive frames were analyzed. It was found that the
mean location of the crest is at 17.1 mm from the narrow
sidewall with a standard deviation of 6.2 mm, whereas
the trough located 203.3 mm away from the narrow side-
wall had a standard deviation of 15.3 mm.
Along the narrow sidewall, the average meniscus pro-
file remains horizontal with slight elevation from the
normal level. This elevation increases with the increase
in casting speed.
A careful observation of Figure 5 shows that the am-
plitude, i.e., displacement of crest plus trough, attains a
maximum in a random fashion. The maximum displace-
ment was determined by scanning 100 successive
4.
~ 300 200 100
o,s'r,NCE (mr.)
NARROW
SIDE WALL
Fig. 6 - - F l u c t u a t i o n of the meniscus along the mold width; nozzle
port 20 m m , port angle 0 deg, immersion depth 150 m m , mold aspect
ratio 1:8, and flow rate 1.22 x 10 -3 m3/s,
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
frames. From a recording of 5 minutes, 10 such maxima
were found. The average of those 10 values is termed
the average wave amplitude.
Figure 9 shows the effect of nozzle exit velocity on
the average wave amplitude for different port diameters.
The figure shows that the amplitude increases with the
increase of nozzle exit velocity. Moreover, at the same
exit velocity, a bigger port diameter shows a higher am-
plitude, because a larger volume of water goes to the
meniscus.
Figure 10 shows the effect of immersion depth on the
average wave amplitude. The average amplitude in-
creases as the immersion depth decreases. As the im-
mersion depth is reduced, the size of the upper
recirculating zone decreases. So the fluid reaches the
meniscus with a higher momentum. This results in
higher amplitude at the meniscus.
Andrzejewski et al. t91 also studied the effect of im-
mersion depth in an extra-wide (1:13) mold using a
- 15 deg. nozzle. They concluded that with the increase
in immersion depth, the meniscus fluctuation increases.
They studied three immersion depths: 20, 100, and
200 mm. With a 20-mm immersion depth, the nozzle
port (dimensions 75 x 95 mm) was only partially im-
mersed in the fluid. In their study, the four recirculating
zones were prominent only in the case of the 200-mm
immersion depth. That is why they obtained altogether
different results from the present study.
Figure 11 shows the effect of port angle on the av-
erage wave amplitude. With the increase in port angle
from - 2 5 to +15 deg., the wave amplitude increases
significantly. In previous studies] 6'81 it was found that as
the nozzle port angle is increased from - 2 5 to + 15 deg.,
the jet discharge angle moves upward. This reduces the
size of the upper recirculating zone, which causes higher
amplitude at the meniscus.
Figure 12 shows the effect of mold aspect ratio on the
average wave amplitude. With the increase in aspect
ratio, the amplitude decreases. An increase in aspect
ratio increases the size of the upper recirculating zone,
which results in lesser amplitude at the meniscus.
Since the amplitude is zero at zero velocity, Figures 9
through 12 all show almost a parabolic variation of am-
plitude with nozzle exit velocity.
Normally, surface disturbances are dependent on den-
sity, viscosity, and surface tension. Since the flow is tur-
bulent, viscous forces are not important, and inertial
force and gravity dominate the flow. For the same rea-
son, a relationship between the dimensionless amplitude
and the Froude number is expected. The Froude number
is defined as
(nozzle exit velocity)z
F=
acc. gravity x characteristic length
0
~'
The aforementioned results show that the size of the
upper recirculating zone effects the wave amplitude. So
the diameter of the upper recirculating zone is a possible
choice of the characteristic length, L. The distance be-
tween the normal meniscus level and the topmost point
NOZZLE
of the jet touching the narrow sidewall can be taken as
the measure of the diameter of the upper recirculating
zone. Figure 13 shows the characteristic length in a sche-
matic manner.
VOLUME 25B, APRIL 1994--229
 (a) (b)

(c) (d)

.Q
g

/ ,

(e)
Fig. 7-- Sequential photograph of the trough (I/25 S interval).

Figure 14 shows the plot for dimensionless wave am- Figures 9 through 12. As Figure 14 shows, the dimen-
plitude against the Froude number. The amplitude, A, is sionless amplitude increases linearly with the Froude
made dimensionless by dividing it by the port diameter, number. The equation is given by
D. The characteristic length, L, is calculated for differ- A
ent nozzles and the mold parameters based on our pre- -- = 0.577 • F
vious study. [8] The data shown in the figure includes D
other experimental results, besides all the data shown in The linearity of the plot suggests that the choice of

2 3 0 - - V O L U M E 25B, APRIL 1994 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B

 PORT A N G L E
20
O 15.
9 0a
E
E 0 -25 a

rto
I-
..~ 1 0
9 o
Z
o
9
O O
Q
O
[3
0 . . . . I . . . . I . . . . I . . . . I ,,, , I
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
NOZZLE EXIT VELOCITY ( m / s )

Fig. 8 - - A i r bubble entrainment. Fig. l 1 - - E f f e c t of port angle on wave amplitude; nozzle port diam-
eter 20 ram, immersion depth 150 m m , and mold aspect ratio 1:4.

40 PORT D I A M E T E R (ram)

u 30.0
A
E O 25.4
40 A S P E C T RATIO
UJ 9 20.0
Cl 9 1:4
-i r'l
(3 o 1 : 6.25
O E
~20 O 1:8

uJ o 9
i 0
0 9
.-'
X
20

o
9 o
O
' ' ' I I i I i I I l , , , I , , i i I O
).5 1.0 1.5 2,0 2.5 9 D
9 9 O
NOZZLE EXIT VELOCITY ( m / s )
0 i ' ' ' I , i a , I , , ,, I , , , , I , , , , J

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Fig. 9 - - E f f e c t of nozzle p o r t diameter on wave amplitude; nozzle
port angle 0 deg, immersion depth 150 ram, and mold aspect NOZZLE EXIT VELOCITY ( m l s )
ratio 1:4.
Fig. 1 2 - - E f f e c t of mold aspect ratio on wave amplitude; nozzle port
20 m m , immersion depth 150 ram, and port angle 0 deg.

20 - IMMERSION DEPTH(mm)

9 100
A
E 0 150
E NAR R OW
o 200 SIDE WALL
till
:D NOZZLE
I-- 1 0 MENISCUS
I[
uJ
t

0 ' I ' I I , '

0

'~ I . . . .
9

0
13
I , , J ,
O

121

I , , ,
[3

, I
!1
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
NOZZLE EXIT VELOCITY ( m / s )

Fig. 1 0 - - E f f e c t of immersion depth on the wave amplitude; nozzle

port diameter 20 m m , port angle 0 deg, and mold aspect ratio 1:4.

P- JET AXIS
the characteristic length is justified. The Weber number
is defined as
0( : JET DISCHARGE ANGLE
(fluid density) x (nozzle exit velocity) 2 X (characteristic length)
W= : JET SPREAD ANGLE
surface tension force D t IMMERSION DEPTH
L : CHARACTERISTIC LENGTH
The definition of the Weber number clearly shows that
it varied over a wide range during the experiment. On Fig. 13-- Schematic diagram of the jet.

METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B VOLUME 25B, APRIL 1994--231

 ASPECT RATIO
2.O-- 10-
0 ~ 1:4
%
w o 1:6.25

O X
N ~
>~ 1,0 0
0 ~ AO
~o o~
~ ~ ~o _

~: 0

'3 , , i , I , J I , I
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
FROUDE NUMBER

Fig. 1 4 - - D i m e n s i o n l e s s plot.

the other hand, Figure 14 shows that the data points are
closely related to the Froude number. This suggests that
oKL DO oL,. *
the average wave amplitude is independent of the Weber
number. In other words, the surface-tension force is not (a)
important in the present system.
The upward velocity of the fluid at the meniscus can 10
be measured from the displacement of the fluid in two
successive frames. For this study, 20 such pairs are cho-
sen in a random fashion from a recording of about
5 minutes. From those pairs, the local upward velocity
is found at different points along the mold width. The
root-mean-square (rms) of all the upward velocity values
at any particular location gives the fluctuating compo-
nent of the upward velocity. The rms value of the up-
ward velocity is the measure of the kinetic energy of
turbulence. Figure 15 shows that the kinetic energy at-
tains a maximum at the crest and varies widely in the
region between the trough and the nozzle.
To resolve the number of waves present at the me-
niscus, Fourier analysis has been carried out.
Figures 16(a) and (b) show the analysis of two random
frames. The analysis shows that only one prominent
wave is present at the meniscus, but its frequency 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
changes with time.
Frequent vortex formation, due to secondary flow, is FRECtUENCY PARAMETER
found to occur in the region between the trough and the (h)
Fig. 1 6 - - F o u r i e r analysis o f the meniscus (experimental conditions
are the same as those for Fig. 4).
3.C -

$ nozzle, at the meniscus. Figure 17 shows a vortex. It

,,=, 2.0 becomes noticeable beyond a critical flow rate depend-
ing on the nozzle configuration, immersion depth, and
aspect ratio. Even beyond the critical flow rate, vortices
Zl.0 are not always present. They appear and disappear in a
random fashion. Their location and number are also not
fixed. At any time, vortices are found only in one-half
of the mold. There are usually only one or two vortices,
t , , I , I i i I = , J ~ I ,
, ,
but occasionally more than two are present. Both clock-
300 200 100 0
wise and counterclockwise vortices are found. The do-
'~ DISTANCE (ram) ~'
NARROW NOZZLE mains of clockwise and counterclockwise vortices are
SIDE WALL fixed.
Fig. 1 5 - - K i n e t i c energy of turbulence along the mold width; nozzle Figure 18 shows the formation of vortices in a sche-
port 20 ram, port angle 0 deg, immersion depth 150 rnm, mold aspect matic way. The flow across the nozzle gives rise to four
ratio 1:8, and flow rate 1.22 x 10 -3 m3/s. recirculating zones at the meniscus. Out of those, two

232--VOLUME 25B, APRIL 1994 METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B


Fig. 17--Vortex formation.
TOP VIEW
I NOZZLE
9 Research and Development Centre for Iron and Steel,
|
-F
Fig. 18--Schematic diagram showing vortex formation around the
nozzle.
are clockwise recirculating zones and two are counter-
clockwise. Observation also shows that the direction of
rotation in a particular zone is fixed; in other words,
clockwise recirculation never occurs in the location
marked as A. When the angular velocity o f the recir-
culating fluid becomes sufficiently high it gives rise to
vortices. It is apparent that, at any time, flow can occur
only in one direction (i.e., either from left to right or
vice versa) across the nozzle. This explains the forma-
tion of vortices only on one side of the nozzle at any
time. Similar work is reported by Qinglin. t'~
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
IV. CONCLUSIONS
1. The meniscus profile is wavy with a crest and a
trough on either side of the nozzle. It keeps on fluc-
tuating at any flow rate, but the time-average profile
is almost symmetric with respect to the nozzle.
2. The port diameter, port angle, immersion depth, and
mold aspect ratio effect the wave amplitude. In all
four cases, the wave amplitude shows a parabolic
variation with the nozzle exit velocity.
3. The plot of dimensionless amplitude vs the Froude
number shows a linear trend with positive slope.
4. The kinetic energy of turbulence attains a maximum
at the crest and varies widely in the region between
the trough and the nozzle.
5. Fourier analysis shows that only one prominent wave
is present at the meniscus, but its frequency changes
with time.
6. Vortex formation takes place beyond a critical flow
rate depending upon the nozzle configuration, im-
mersion depth, and the mold aspect ratio.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the
Steel Authority of India Ltd., for sponsoring this re-
search project.
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