Fluid Flow Analyses and Meniscus Behavior During the Horizontal Single Belt Casting (HSBC) of Aluminum Alloy AA6111 Strips

Abstract

The Horizontal Single Belt Casting (HSBC) process involves feeding molten metal, iso-kinetically, onto an intensively water-cooled, moving belt, which acts as the mold. Managing the bottom surface quality of the as-cast strip is a key factor in the success of the HSBC approach. The quality of strips is directly dependent on fluid flow behavior within the delivery system, the shape of the metal delivery system, the texture of the cooling substrate, meniscus behavior at the oscillating triple point of contact between melt/cooling substrate/air at the refractory back-wall, as well as the interfacial heat transfer between the melt and cooling substrate. The present research focusses on fluid flow analyses and meniscus behavior during the HSBC casting of various aluminum alloys. High Performance Computational Fluid Dynamic Modelling was validated by full-scale casting experiments.