Numerical analysis on the similarity between steel ladles and hot-water models regarding natural convection phenomena

Abstract

The similarity between steel ladles and hot-water models regarding natural convection phenomena has been systematically analysed through examination of the numerical solutions of turbulent Navier-Stokes partial differential equations governing the phenomena in question. The numerical solutions have been obtained by using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method. Key similarity criteria for non-isothermal physical modelling of steel ladles with hot-water models have been derived as Frm = Frp and (βΔT)m = (βΔT)p where the subscripts m and p stand for the water model and the prototype steel ladle, respectively. Accordingly, appropriate conditions fulfilling the above criteria, such as model size, water temperature, time scale factor and the scale factor of boundary heat loss fluxes, have been proposed and discussed. As a result, water models with geometry scales between 1/5 and 1/3 and using hot-water of temperature higher than 45°C are appropriate for simulating natural convection phenomena in steel ladles.