Electromagnetic control of initial solidification in continuous casting of steel by low frequency alternating magnetic field

Abstract

A marked improvement of the surface quality of casts and a break-through in casting speed in conventional continuous casting of steel require the introduction of new technology for initial solidification control. The authors have approached these problems by the use of electromagnetic shaping of the meniscus and demonstrated the possibility using simulation experiments. This paper describes the results of numerical prediction of the effect of electromagnetic field on the initial solidification of steel and the experimental results obtained by continuous casting of round austenite stainless steel billets of 180mm diameter with solenoidal magnetic field with main frequency, 60 Hz. The numerical results concerned with magnetohydrodynamics and heat transfer phenomena predicted improvement of the surface roughness of the cast billet and improvement of mold lubrication by decreasing the dynamic pressure due to the meniscus shaping effect. In the experimental casting, the surface of billets were smoothed and the mold friction force was reduced by imposing the magnetic field, which are in consistent with the numerical predictions.