Analysis of Mold Wearduring Continuous Casting of Slab

This study investigates the thermo-mechanical behaviors during the continuous casting process of slabs, focusing on mold wear. The objective is to analyze mold wear using a new dimensionless parameter termed the 'Apparent Wear Parameter.' A 2-dimensional coupled thermo-elasto-plastic finite element model is developed to simulate and compare the geometry and temperature distributions of the solidifying shell and mold with experimental observations. Results indicate that the calculated geometry around the corner region aligns closely with experiments. The analysis reveals that mold wear is significantly influenced by interfacial pressure and carbon concentration, highlighting that as the narrow face taper increases, the potential for mold wear also increases due to heightened interfacial pressure. Furthermore, variations in carbon concentration demonstrated a notable effect, where higher concentrations led to reduced worn region widths due to uniform thermal contraction. The model's predictions for mold wear closely match industrial observations, confirming its validity. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of mold wear mechanisms in continuous casting, providing insights that are essential for improving product quality and operational efficiency.