As twin-roll casting is a complex physical process, the structure and size of the metal feeding system, which supplies molten metal to the gap between two casting rolls, have a great influence on the quality of the products. In particular, the baffle is the key element for ensuring the uniformity of flow rate and temperature of molten metal at the outlet of the feeding system. The shape, size, number, and position of baffles have a significant impact on the flow characteristics of molten metal in the feeding system.
Therefore, optimizing the structure and design parameters of the feeding system is of great importance for ensuring good quality of products by adjusting the flow field of molten metal in the feeding system. In addition, the wider the strip in twin-roll casting is, the wider the feeding system gets. This increases the complexity of the flow characteristics of the molten metal, which leads to requirements for accurate structure and design parameters of the feeding system.
In order to improve the quality of strip edge in aluminum twin-roll casting, Kim Il Hyok, a student at the Faculty of Material Science and Technology, simulated the fluid flow behavior in different types of metal feeding systems (3C-type, 7C-type, and 2-split-type) by ANSYS Fluent.
Through simulations, he analyzed the effects of design parameters (shape, size, and position of baffles) of the feeding system on the distribution of fluid flow rate and temperature at the outlet of the feeding system. Based on the results, he concluded that the feeding system for the conformity of the flow rate and temperature of molten metal is of 2-split-type, and optimized its design parameters.
The optimized feeding system could ensure high quality of aluminum strips by eliminating the defects such as edge cracks.
If more information is needed, you can refer to his paper “Optimization of design parameters of metal feeding system for quality improvement of strip edge in aluminum twin-roll casting” in “The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology” (SCI).