Simulations of Macrosegregation with consideration of inclusion effect in solidifying carbon steels

During casting of steel ingots, the inclusions such as oxide, sulfide will inevitably exist in the melt. These inclusions will flow upward together with light solutes during solidification due to their lower density relative to the steel melt, which therefore causes impacts on the thermo-solutal convection in the melt and final solute distribution. Hence, a macrosegregation model that considers the effects of inclusions on melt flow in the mushy zone is established. Of the new model two important parameters, the inclusion capturing probability by solid, k_p, and the original volume fraction, n₀, are systematically studied in terms of simulations, which shows that decreasing k_p or increasing n₀ leads to stronger ascending flow in the melt. And then as a validation example, the model was used to predict the macrosegregation in a 3.3-ton steel ingot. The prediction demonstrates that with consideration of inclusions, the melt convection strength is enhanced and thus the zones of macrosegregation are expanded comparing to simulations without taking account of inclusions. Further comparison with experiment results indicates that a better agreement of the carbon segregation along the centerline of the ingot can be achieved when considering the inclusion buoyancy.