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The purpose of this paper is to develop a concept and design to cast Al alloys/metal matrix composites (MMCs) by continuous casting process. The various steps involved in the evolution of the design have been reported and discussed in this study.

On the basis of developed design concept, initial prototype design has been prepared in this study. The casting process's melt flow pattern was studied via computer simulation, and the resulting changes were implemented in the original design. The single-phase fluid flow pattern through bottom feeding technique is studied. The equipment was fabricated based on computer simulation and water modelling studies. Finally, validation was performed for the preparation of Al alloys/ MMCs after parameter optimisation. The results were observed in the optical metallography to confirm the alloying and Al MMC preparation.

The developed continuous casting process with bottom feeding technique for the addition of constituent particles shows more efficiency in comparison to the existing batch processes. The final manufactured setup demonstrates effective Al alloy/MMC production as the basis for final fabrication has been accomplished by both computer simulation and water model test. In addition, the microstructure exhibits homogeneous distribution, validating the reliability of the setup.

Integrating continuous casting with continuous reinforcement or master alloy addition is novel in this area. The constraints that batch production had that have been rectified will also lower the contemporary cost of production.

This paper gives a review of the finite element techniques (FE) applied in the area of material processing. The latest trends in metal forming, non‐metal forming, powder metallurgy and composite material processing are briefly discussed. The range of applications of finite elements on these subjects is extremely wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore the aim of the paper is to give FE researchers/users only an encyclopaedic view of the different possibilities that exist today in the various fields mentioned above. An appendix included at the end of the paper presents a bibliography on finite element applications in material processing for 1994‐1996, where 1,370 references are listed. This bibliography is an updating of the paper written by Brannberg and Mackerle which has been published in Engineering Computations, Vol. 11 No. 5, 1994, pp. 413‐55.

The purpose of this article is to numerically investigate the effect of casting speed on the fluid flow, solidification and inclusion motion under the influence of electromagnetic stirring (EMS) in the bloom caster mold with bifurcated submerged entry nozzle (SEN).

The electromagnetic field obtained by solving Maxwell’s equation is coupled with the fluid flow, solidification and discrete phase model using the in-house user-defined functions. An enthalpy porosity approach and Lagrangian approach are applied for the solidification analysis and non-metallic inclusions motion tracking, respectively.

Investigation shows that the casting speed and EMS significantly affect the steel flow, solidification and inclusion behavior inside the mold. Investigations are being conducted into the complex interplay between the induced flow and the SEN’s inertial impinging jet. In low and medium casting speeds, the application of EMS significantly increases the inclusion removal rate. Inclusion removal is studied for its different size and density and further effect of EMS is also reported on cluster formation and distribution of inclusion in the domain.

The model may be used to optimize the process parameter (casting speed and EMS) to improve the casting quality of steel by removing the impurities.

The effect of casting speed on the solidification and inclusion behavior under the influence of time-varying EMS in bloom caster mold with bifurcated nozzle has not been investigated yet. The findings may assist the steelmakers in improving the casting quality.

To effectively control the molten steel flow and the stability of free surface in continuous casting mould, this paper aims to propose a new type electromagnetic brake technique, namely, vertical electromagnetic brake (V-EMBr). Its brake effect under special processing parameters such as submerged entry nozzle (SEN) depth and port angle is evaluated by the numerical simulation methods.

A couple three-dimensional mathematical model of fluid flow and static magnetic field was developed to investigate the behaviour of molten steel flow and steel/slag interface in the continuous casting mould, and a volume of fluid model is used to track the interfacial behaviour of molten steel and liquid slag by solving the continuity equation of the phase volume fraction.

The simulation results showed that the application of V-EMBr can significantly reduce the flow intensity in upper recirculation zone and decrease the meniscus height and the flow velocity of molten steel in the vicinity of narrow side of mould, which is beneficial to reduce the possibility of mould flux entrapment. Especially, the brake effect of V-EMBr has a little affected by the SEN depth and port angle, which is helpful for V-EMBr to better adapt the actual continuous casting process.

Compared to the conventional-level EMBr, the new proposed V-EMBr has the advantage to effectively control the molten steel flow and steel/slag interfacial fluctuation in the vicinity of narrow side of mould with a pair of magnetic fields, and its brake effect is less affected by the changes in continuous casting processing parameters.

Hydral‐2 aluminium anodes are industrially produced by the vertical semi‐continuous casting process. The results of a comparative study, conducted on large offshore anodes, of the chemical and electrochemical homogenieties of fixed mould cast anodes and semi‐continuous cast anodes are detailed. The effects that alloy solidification after casting have upon grain structure and upon contact between insert and alloy are discussed. We report the preliminary results of field tests at Pechiney's test facility in Vlissengen, Holland. These trials were conducted in the North Sea with full‐size production anodes.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how electromagnetic stirring during continuous casting of ferrous and non‐ferrous metals is applied in order to increase the homogeneity and the material properties by improving the grain refinement in the solidification process. The fluid flow and thermal modeling was performed for studying the metal wire pulling process, where melt is being stirred at the solidification front (SF) by electromagnetic forces. Transient simulation has been carried out in order to investigate the periodical character of the process.

The numerical analysis was performed in 2D utilizing the rotational symmetry of the problem. First the electromagnetic fields were estimated using FEM and were subsequently exported as source terms in a coupled thermal and flow simulation with FVM.

The presented numerical model estimated the most suitable position between the stirring coil and the SF to achieve high flow velocities which improve the grain refinement process.

This work enables estimation of the melt solidification in an electromagnetic stirred continuous casting process with oscillating pull velocities.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of pulsed magnetic field (PMF) with different duty cycles on the melt flow and heat transfer behaviors during direct-chill (DC) casting of large-size magnesium alloy billet and find the appropriate range of duty cycle.

A transient two-dimensional mathematical model coupled electromagnetic field, flow field and thermal field, is conducted to study the melt flow and temperature field under PMF and compared with that under the harmonic magnetic field.

The results reveal that melt vibration and fluctuation are generated due to the instantaneous impact of repeated thrust and pull effects of Lorentz force under PMF. The peak of Lorentz force decreases greatly with the increasing duty cycle, but the melt fluctuation region is expanded with higher duty cycle, which accelerates the interior melt velocity and reduces the temperature gradient at the liquid-solid interface. However, PMF with overly high duty cycle has adverse effect on the melt convection and limited influence on the interior melt. A duty cycle of 20% to 50% is a reasonable range.

This paper can provide guiding significance for the setting of duty cycle parameters on DC casting under PMF.

There are few reports on the effect of PMF parameters during DC casting with applying PMF, especially for duty cycle, a parameter unique to PMF. The findings will be helpful for applying the external field of PMF on DC casting.

This article describes a study that has been made on the automation of deburring in a foundry. Circular castings weighing up to 20kg are deburred before delivery in order to make them fit into machining cells. The maximum production rate of the cylindrical castings on the foundry line is one casting every ten seconds. However, the castings are produced in small batches, typically ranging from 100 to 1,000. After casting and integrated sand blasting and cooling chambers, the castings are transferred further on a conveyor belt. Deburring is today done manually by lifting and pressing against different grinding and deburring machines. Bins and forklifts are used in transport and storage of castings, from production line to deburring and shipment.

During steel plate and long-product production, numerous imperfections and defects appear that deteriorate product quality and consequently reduce revenue. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical overview of typical defects (surface and internal) that occur and their root causes.

The data presented here derive from the quality department and from more than 50 technical reports of ELKEME S.A. on the last decade’s production of steel making companies STOMANA S.A. and SIDENOR S.A., with emphasis on the defects occurred in some of the products of the Bulgarian plant. Stereoscopic observations of surface defects, light optical metallography, and scanning electron microscopy with EDS represent the most used techniques to characterize defected macro-/micro-areas and microstructures.

In general, the most commonly encountered defects from semi-finished (billets, blooms, and slabs) and final (round bar and plate) steel products are as follows: network cracks, porosity, gas holes, shrinkage, shell, slivers, casting powder entrapment, ladle slag entrapment, other non-metallic inclusions, low hot ductility, centerline segregation cracking, macro- and micro-segregation, and mechanical defects (scratches, transverse cracks, and seams).

External and internal quality improvement can reduce the production cost (Euro/ton).

Improvement of the quality of industrial plates and long products increases the safety of the further-produced constructions and systems such as bridges, cranes, heavy equipment, automobile parts, etc.

Root cause analysis and categorization of the most commonly encountered defects can pave the way to production process improvements that directly affect final product quality and the overall per ton production cost. The benefits of this work obviously affect all steel producers/processers, and also society through the safety increase achieved by the quality improvement in the steel products used in constructions and automobile parts.