Deeper Flow Behavior Explanation of Temperature Effects on the Fluid Dynamic inside a Tundish

The continuous casting tundish is non-isothermal due to heat losses and temperature variation from the inlet stream, which generate relevant convection forces. This condition is commonly avoided through qualitative fluid dynamic analysis only. This work searches to establish the conditions for which non-isothermal simulations are mandatory or for which isothermal simulations are enough to accurately describe the fluid dynamics inside the tundish by quantifying the buoyant and inertial forces. The mathematical model, simulated by CFD software, considers the Navier-Stokes equations, the realizable k-ε model for solving the turbulence, and the Lagrangian discrete phase to track the inclusion trajectories. The results show that temperature does not significantly impact the volume fraction percentages or the mean residence time results; nevertheless, bigger velocity magnitudes under non-isothermal conditions than in isothermal conditions and noticeable changes in the fluid dynamics between isothermal and non-isothermal cases in all the zones where buoyancy forces dominate over inertial forces were observed. Because of the results, it is concluded that isothermal simulations can accurately describe the flow behavior in tundishes when the flow control devices control the fluid dynamics, but simulations without control devices or with a weak fluid dynamic dependence on the control devices require non-isothermal simulations.