Thermo-mechanical modeling of dendrite deformation in continuous casting of steel

In the field of modern steelmaking, continuous casting has become the major manufacturing process to handle a wide range of steel grades. An important criterion characterizing the quality of semi-finished cast products is the macrosegregation forming at the centre of these products during solidification. The deformation induced interdendritic melt flow has been identified as the key mechanism for the formation of centreline segregation. Bulging of the solidified strand shell causes deformation of the solidifying dendrites at the casting's centre. Hence, a fundamental knowledge about the solid phase motion during casting processes is crucial to examine segregation phenomena in detail. To investigate dendritic deformation particularly at the strand centre, a thermo-mechanical Finite Element (FE) simulation model is built in the commercial software package ABAQUS. The complex dendritic shape is approximated with a conical model geometry. Varying this geometry allows considering the influence of different centreline solid fractions on the dendrite deformation. A sinusoidal load profile is used to describe bulging of the solid which deforms the dendrites. Based on the strain rates obtained in the FE simulations the dendrite deformation velocity perpendicular to the casting direction is calculated. The velocity presented for different conditions is used as input parameter for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to investigate macrosegregation formation inside of a continuous casting strand using the commercial software package FLUENT.