Study on the Flow Field Characteristics in a Six-Strand Tundish Under Different Baffle Walls with Hydraulic Experiments and Numerical Simulations

Abstract

Flow characteristics constitute a fundamental factor governing the metallurgical performance of a tundish. The flow behavior of molten steel directly determines the floating removal efficiency of inclusions, the occurrence of slag entrainment, and the uniformity of flow distribution among multiple strands, which ultimately exerts a decisive influence on the quality of the final cast slab. The core objective of flow control device design is precisely to regulate tundish flow characteristics to meet metallurgical requirements. This work investigates the design of flow control devices for multi-strand tundishes and adopts a combined research scheme of numerical simulation and hydraulic physical experiment to systematically analyze the influence of the internal porous baffle structure on the flow characteristics of the tundish. The research indicates that the two research methods have complementary advantages: hydraulic physical simulation can obtain refined flow field information, while numerical simulation can intuitively capture the distribution rules of temperature field and overall flow pattern. The introduction of flow control devices with a porous baffle structure into the tundish can induce more directional circulating flow in the casting region, thereby effectively suppressing the occurrence of short-circuit flow. The regulation effect of different porous baffle schemes on tundish flow is essentially determined by the diameter and arrangement position of the openings on the baffle. In this study, both U-shaped and V-shaped baffles were adopted to reconstruct the internal flow structure of the six-strand tundish by adjusting the direction of the inlet jet and the distribution path of molten steel, which provides a fundamental reference for improving the flow consistency among different strands of the tundish.