Coupled electromechanical and electrothermal problems in continuous casting

本研究致力于设计和开发下一代电磁搅拌设备，用于连铸极高质量的钢材。这将需要开发一个复杂的数学模型，因为拟议的设备不能也不能完全存在于实验室规模。拟议的设备将由多个大功率线圈组成，这些线圈旨在产生旋转磁场，与高速钢水相互作用，并将高速钢水连续浇注到水冷的开式底部铜模中。磁场的目的是向钢液施加力，使其在模具内部和下方旋转。熔融金属的运动，特别是沿固/液凝固前沿的运动，将显著提高凝固产品的质量。这个特定的建模目标具有挑战性，因为它包含了取自广泛不同领域的最先进的方法。具体地说，电磁场是三维的，以复杂的方式随时间变化，并被熔融金属的运动所修改。此外，熔融金属在铸造系统中的流动是高度湍流的，容易产生脉动，从而导致铸型中钢液自由表面的不稳定。这项研究的第一个目标是了解、描述和电磁控制流动脉动，以便稳定钢水自由表面。第二个目标是开发电磁手段，增加某些临界区的湍流量，从而显著提高凝固钢的质量。

This research is concerned with the design and development of next-generation electromagnetic stirring equipment for the continuous casting of very high quality steel. This will require the development of a sophisticated mathematical model since the proposed equipment does not, and cannot, completely exist on the laboratory scale. The proposed equipment will consist of multiple, high power, coils designed to produce a rotating magnetic field that interacts with high velocity molten steel that is continuously poured into a water cooled, open bottom, copper mold. The purpose of the magnetic field is to exert forces on the molten steel and cause it to rotate within and below the mold. The motion of the molten metal, particularly along the solid/liquid solidification front, will act to significantly improve the quality of the solidified product. This specific modeling goal is challenging in that it encompasses state-of-the-art methodologies taken from widely disparate fields Specifically, the electromagnetic fields are 3-dimensional, time varying in a complex fashion, and are modified by the motion of the molten metal. Additionally, the flow of the molten metal in the casting system is highly turbulent and prone to pulsations that cause instabilities at the free surface of the molten steel in the casting mold. The first objective of this research is to understand, describe and electromagnetically control the flow pulsations so that the molten steel free surface can be stabilized. The second objective is to develop electromagnetic means of increasing the amount of turbulence in certain critical regions such that the quality of the solidified steel will be significantly improved.