Influence of mechanical reduction amount on internal quality of continuous casting billets by thermal and numerical simulation

With establishment of thermal and numerical simulation models, the influence of reduction amount on solidification structure, segregation and shrinkage porosity of continuous casting (CC) billets was investigated. The thermal–mechanical coupled simulation results indicated that with an increase in reduction amount, the temperature in the central area decreases, and the reduction efficiency firstly increases and then decreases, reaching the maximum value at reduction amount of 6 mm. Metallographic analysis showed that increasing the reduction amount is beneficial for the refinement of central solidification structure. Moreover, the internal cracks are more likely to appear at higher reduction efficiency. The X-ray computerized tomography results revealed that a higher reduction amount can significantly reduce the volume fraction and equivalent diameter of the central shrinkage porosities of CC billets and increase the sphericity of them. Simultaneously, the macrosegregation of carbon along the central line is improved as the reduction amount increases; while the reduction amount exceeds 8 mm, the segregation degree will not change any more.