Numerical analysis of secondary cooling and bulging in the continuous casting of slabs

In this paper, numerical analyses of the secondary cooling and the bulging of the strand are performed, as applied to the continuous casting of slabs. Solidification analyses of the strand under air-mist for each cooling zone are carried out by the one-dimensional finite difference method. The bulging deformation of cast slab is calculated with a two-dimensional elasto-plastic and creep finite element model. For efficient bulging analysis, the temperature distribution and shell thickness resulting from the solidification analysis are automatically transferred to input data for the bulging analysis. The solidification is analyzed more precisely with five sub-zones in the cooling zone and the temperature distribution is fully coupled in the bulging analysis. The adequacy of the model has been confirmed with experimental results. From this study the effects of the process variables such as casting speed, cooling condition, and roll pitch are examined. The results from the analyses are applicable to the design of the continuous casting process.