Numerical simulation of condensed Al2O3 inclusion motion behavior in liquid steel in a continuous casting tundish

Under the Euler-Lagrange framework, based on the quantitative description of inclusion morphology using the fractal theory, the motion behavior of condensed Al₂O₃ inclusions in liquid steel in a continuous casting tundish was studied by numerical sim-ulation. It is found that liquid steel flow field and inclusion morphology influence the motion behavior of Al₂O₃ inclusions in liquid steel together. With increasing inclusion size, the floating removal rate of two different morphologies of inclusions, cluster-like Al₂O₃ inclu-sions and spherical Al₂O₃ inclusions, becomes larger gradually. At the same inclusion size, the floating removal rate of cluster-like Al₂O₃ inclusions is lower than that of spherical Al₂O₃ inclusions. As the inclusion size increases, the floating removal rate of cluster-like Al₂O₃ inclusions decreases more than that of spherical Al₂O₃ inclusions with the same size. At the inclusion size of 20, 40, 60 and 80μm, the floating removal rate of cluster-like Al₂O₃ inclusions decreases by 4.8%, 5.7%, 6.4% and 12.5% compared with spheri-cal Al₂O₃ inclusions, respectively.