Prediction of Plunging Depth Induced by Top Lance Gas Blowing onto a Low-melting-point Metal Bath

Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out with a water bath and a low-melting-point metal bath to understand the cavity formation behavior induced by gas blowing from a top lance set in the near field of the bath surface. Cavity formation behavior was classified by the critical gas velocity for droplet formation. The depth of the cavity formed in the near field of the gas jet was reasonably predicted by numerical simulation. A new empirical equation for the cavity depth as a function of a modified Froude number was proposed.