Comparison of numerical and experimental flow data from a liquid-metal model of a continuous casting mould

Detailed knowledge of the flow fields in continuous casting moulds is of major importance, e.g., for the steel and the copper industry. Because there are only limited possibilities for measurements at real plant mould flows, model experiments and numerical simulations have been extensively used in the past for the inspection of mould flows. However, most data which are available in the literature are obtained at water model experiments, and most validation studies are based on those data sets. Recently, a new liquid-metal model of a continuous casting mould has been installed at the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The facility allows for the first time flow measurements in liquid metal mould flows. The paper presents a first comparison of the experimental data with results from a numerical model of the mould flow. The numerical grid includes the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) and the mould. Simulations are performed with boundary conditions which fit to the operating parameters of the experiment. The Reynolds number based on the mean velocity and the hydraulic diameter of the SEN ports is about 4 x 10⁴, the Reynolds number based on the mean velocity and the hydraulic diameter of the mould cross section area is about 3 x 10³. The numerical model is based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations.