The importance of thermophysical properties of steels for the numerical simulation of a concasting process

Abstract

The thermophysical properties of steels have significant influence on the actual concasting process, and on the accuracy of its numerical simulation and optimization. The determination of these properties (heat conductivity, specific heat capacity and density in the solid and liquid states) often requires more time than the actual numerical calculation of the temperature fields of a continuously cast steel billet, cylinder or slab (generally a concasting). The influence of individual properties should be neither under- nor over-estimated. Therefore, an analysis/parametric study of these thermophysical properties was conducted. The order of importance within the actual process and the accuracy of simulation and optimization were also determined. Individual properties, which, in some cases, were obtained from tables, and in others experimentally, were substituted by an approximation using orthogonal polynomials. The accuracy of each polynomial is dependent on the precision of individual values. The order of significance of individual thermophysical properties was determined with respect to the metallurgical length. The analysis was performed by means of a so-called calculation experiment, i.e. by means of the original and universal numerical concasting model developed by the authors of this paper. It is convenient to conduct such an analysis in order to facilitate the simulation of each individual case of concasting, thus enhancing the process of optimization.