Numerical and Experimental Study of the Meniscus Vortex Core in a Water Model of Continuous Casting Mold

Slag entrainments in a continuous casting mold result in serious defects in steel products. Most previous studies concentrated on the magnitude of meniscus velocity or transient roll cell motion to investigate the cause of slag entrainment. However, slag entrainment is more directly connected with the meniscus vortex, which accompanies a meniscus deformation (e.g., vortex dimple or core). Most previous numerical studies on the meniscus vortex were conducted using a single-phase flow analysis; thus, the effect of meniscus deformation was never examined. This study conducts a multiphase flow simulation by employing a free-surface-capturing technique, and succeeds in reproducing the meniscus vortex core in the mold. The core depth and onset condition for the meniscus vortex obtained by the present numerical study show good agreements with the experimental results. The vorticity distribution on the mold meniscus and meniscus vortex patterns according to flow asymmetry are also dealt with herein.