Open Access Conference Proceedings

We performed continuous casting of Cu-9Al alloy, following microstructure characterization and computational simulation. Numerical simulation was done on the two scales: within the thermo-mechanical model on the macro scale and the phase-field approach on the mesoscopic scale. In the experimental part of this work, Cu-9Al bars were obtained by the continuous casting (CC) process which was subsequently analyzed by optical, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. For the precise quantitative description, a full coupled thermo-mechanical model of the casting process was implemented. Within this model, we successfully numerically simulated time-dependent temperature and solid fraction fields within standard macro phenomenological models. The obtained fields were used as input for a mesoscale multi-phase-field model of the constrained dendrite growth into the undercooled melt. Simulations of dendrite structure were compared with the experimental findings and thoroughly analyzed. Two scale simulation frame work has been identified as a useful tool for quantitative prediction of dendrite morphology and CC process optimization.

Keywords: Metal processing, continuous casting, solidification, thermo-mechanical, multiphysics

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