Analysis of fluid flow turbulence in tundishes fed by a swirling ladle shroud

A new design of a ladle shroud, obtained through water modeling, that controls turbulence of the entry jet in continuous casting tundishes is proposed. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements indicate that this design decreases the impact velocity on the tundish bottom to close to 1/3 of that provided by a conventional ladle shroud. This achievement is due to a swirling jet that promotes a recirculatory flow in the horizontal planes of the tundish. The swirling effects help to dissipate the turbulence energy of the jet before it impacts the tundish bottom making possible decreases of fluid velocities that impact the back and front walls of the tundish. Turbulence models like k-ε, k-ω and RSM were applied to simulate the experimental PIV measurements of velocities in the fluid flow. Only the RSM model yielded results that agree remarkably well with the experimental determinations. These results make possible to avoid the employment of flow control devices such as dams, weirs, turbulence inhibitors and the like in tundishes.