Experimental Investigation of the Flow in a Continuous-Casting Mold under the Influence of a Transverse, Direct Current Magnetic Field

This article describes laboratory experiments aimed at investigations of flow structures and related transport processes in the continuous-casting mold under the influence of an external direct current (DC) magnetic field. The main value of cold metal laboratory experiments consists in the capabilities to obtain quantitative flow measurements with a reasonable spatial and temporal resolution. The experimental results presented here were obtained using a physical model operating with the room-temperature alloy GaInSn. According to the concept of the electromagnetic brake, the impact of a DC magnetic field on the outlet flow from the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) has been studied up to Hartmann numbers of approximately 400. The effect of the magnetic field on the flow structure turned out to be complex. The flow measurements do not manifest a general braking effect, which would be expected as an overall damping of the flow velocity and the related fluctuations all over the mold volume. Variations of the wall conductivity showed a striking impact on the resulting flow structures. The experiments provide a substantial database for the validation of respective numerical simulations.