Simulation of the thermal-mechanical continuous casting process using unstructured grids

Abstract

A computational thermal-mechanical simulator using the Element based Finite Volume Method Element based Finite Volume Method (EbFVM) has been elaborated to investigate the solidification of continuous casting ingots. The thermal behavior was evaluated using the two-dimensional transient heat conduction equation with phase change in conjunction with a numerical-experimental film coefficients. In addition, the thermal-mechanical approach includes three inelastic representations, which are based in the Ramberg-Osgood plastic and Odqvist’s viscoplastic models. The simulator is validated using several benchmarks tests, along with the analytical solution of the Stefan’s problem. The numerical solution provided by the proposed in-house simulator were compared with a commercial simulator. From the comparisons performed, one can notice that EbFVM makes accurate prediction as the traditional numerical approach commonly employed to obtain the solution of computational mechanical cases. In the context of continuous casting herein were investigated two casting velocities and in order to enhance the cooling stage, in the sprays zone, as well as the crack formation, a new sprays set were proposed for the investigated cases. The thermal-mechanical study provided by EbFVM is able to provide good results for the temperature profile and thermomechanical state that could be used to address problems caused by the cooling process.