Thermal-mechanical Coupling Simulation Of Round Billet Mould Copper Pipe Based On Finite Element Method

In the process of slab continuous casting, the mold is used to turn the molten steel to solidified shell ,which is one of the key equipment of the continuous casting machine. The productivity of continuous casting machine and slab quality are closely related to the design of mold and hot working conditions.It is difficult to know the solidification status in the mould by means of commercial tests because of the complexity of heat transfer. Therefore, numerical simulation has become an important tool to understand and improve the thermal and mechanical state in the mould, an important means for design and optimization of the mould.In this thesis, ANSYS Finite Element Analysis software is used to build a three-dimensional model of thermo-mechanical coupling analysis.And the mold is used to produce round billets whose size isφ178mm. The material parameters of the mold and the slab varing with temperature have been taken into account . Firstly, the temperature field of the mould and molten steel has been calculated; then the results of temperature has been taken as the body load exerting on the stress mold. Basing on the contraction deformation of the mold and the slab,the thermal mold is recalculated with the new thermal boundary conditions. Repeat the above process until the slab is pulled out of the mold.The result of coupled thermo-dynamic of the mold and slab not only reflects the process of heat transfer and solidification directly, but also achieves the curve of slab contraction deformation and the distribution of air gap between the mold and slab. After expositing the prosess of forming billet,the growth of shell and the surface temperature have been studied with different casting speeds and grade of steel. In addition, the main design parameters including casting speed, cooling water flow rate, material and the thickness of the mold have been taken into account . Simulation results show that the faster casting speed and thicker copper pipe,the higher temperature of the hot and cold side of the mold is,and the temperature of hot side incresaed more than the cold side; Increasing water velocity and using materials whose thermal conductivity is much better will lower the temperature. Finally, several cognitions concerning the optimum design of the mould have been put forward.Every parameter should be taken into account to design the mold.