Water Model Study of Horizontal Molten Steel--Ar Two-Phase Jet in a Continuous Casting Mold

A water model study was carried out to understand the behavior of a molten steel and Ar gas two-phase jet issuing out of a submerged entrance nozzle in continuous casting molds. A mixture of water and air was injected horizontally from a circular pipe settled flush with the narrow face of a mold having a rectangular cross section. The water-air two-phase jet thus generated was pulled upward through the effect of buoyancy force acting on air bubbles. The deflection of the jet in the upward direction was correlated by introducing a velocity scale, which could characterize the upward moving velocity of the jet. The mean velocity and turbulence components of water flow were measured with a laser Doppler velocimeter. Empirical equations were proposed for predicting the two velocity components.