Numerical Investigation of the Fluid Flow in Continuous Casting Tundish Using Analysis of RTD Curves Original Research Article

A detailed mathematical procedure of the optimization of the fluid flow in a tundish water model with and without flow control devices (weir and dam) was carried out using the commercial CFD code FLUENT 6. 0. The (k-ɛ) two-equation model was used to model turbulence. The residence time distribution (RTD) curves were used to analyze the behavior of the flow in tundish. The location of flow control devices in the tundish was studied. The results show that the flow modifiers play an important role in promoting the floatation of nonmetallic inclusions in steel. Comparing the three geometric configurations that are considered (bare tundish, weir, weir + dam), the tundish equipped with the arrangement (weir+dam) is a best and optimal geometric configuration of tundish.