An experimental study of the velocity field during filling of an ingot mould

In the present study the velocity field in a 1:3 scale water model of a 4.2-tonne ingot mould was determined using Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA). The velocity was measured in the horizontal and vertical directions at several different locations along the centre plane of the model. The effect of different volumetric flow rates and water temperatures was also investigated. The reproducibility of the measurements was found to be satisfactory, since the mean velocity at any measurement location had an average difference of around 10% between two fillings. The effect of different volumetric flow rates showed that while decreasing the flow rate, the mean velocity at the bottom turned from an upward direction to a downward direction. At the top of the model the difference between the mean velocities for the different flow rates was less pronounced. An influence of the temperature on the mean velocity could be observed. However, further studies are required to verify this result.