An Online Contactless Investigation of the Meniscus Velocity in a Continuous Casting Mold Using Lorentz Force Velocimetry

Monitoring the meniscus velocities of molten steel in continuous casting molds is critical for revealing the velocity field in the whole mold and consequently for process control and final product quality, however, the realization of contactless online measurement in an actual metallurgy environment is a highly challenging task. In this paper, we develop a special Lorentz force velocimetry (LFV) device to measure the local meniscus velocities of molten steel flow, and this device can adapt to harsh environments with high temperature, opaque liquid metal and surrounding complex electromagnetic noise. A series of laboratory experiments and calibrations were conducted to provide support for a follow-up in-plant test. The LFV device exhibits capability and feasibility for measuring the meniscus velocity in continuous casting molds during plant tests. On this basis, the velocity field and turbulent flow in a wide slab continuous casting mold are analyzed. The measured meniscus velocity is on the order of ~ 10−1 m/s, which is consistent with the results obtained via the nail-board approach.