Numerical Simulation of Foaming Processes

The literature model studied in this article describes bubble formation and growth in a highly viscous polymer liquid with support of a gaseous matter dispersed under pressure before foaming. The foam growth is induced by the application of vacuum and mass transport of volatile components dissolved in the polymer liquid. Based on this literature model, aeration processes are calculated for intermediate viscosity and low viscosity biological systems, as they are of interest for biomatter foams, in particular for food foams in industrial processes. At the end of this article, the numerical results are presented and discussed.

Simulation of Mould Level Velocities During Continuous Casting of Round Bloom Strands With Mould-Electromagnetic Stirring

In modern continuous casting of round steel blooms rotating electromagnetic fields are commonly employed to improve the product quality.Mould-electromagnetic stirrers(M-EMS)are used to excite a rotary motion along the solidification front in the liquid core.These velocities lead to a better strand surface quality as well as enhancing the transition from columnar to equiaxed solidification.Although the usage of electromagnetic stirrers is widespread,not all effects are fully known or understood.Due to harsh conditions at the plant,measurements are scarce and limited.Water model experiments-an established alternative for investigating continuous casting of steel-cannot be used due to the low electrical conductivity of water.Experiments with liquid metals like mercury,Galinstan or Wood’s metal are either expensive or difficult to perform.Thus numeric simulations are essential to gain a better understanding of the processes involved in continuous casting with electromagnetic stirring.However numeric simulations should always be validated with experiments and/or measurements.While the velocity field inside the liquid core of the bloom cannot be measured at the caster,the velocity at the mould level can be measured by dipping a nail into it.The skull forming at the tip of the nail is directly linked to the occurring surface velocity.These measurements can then be compared with numeric simulations of the nail dipping process.The numeric model is restricted to the upper part of the strand.The lower part of the strand is also taken into account through adjusted boundary conditions(velocity field etc.taken from a simulation of the whole strand).In this work the influence of the stirring field strength on the simulation results will be investigated.In the future these nail dipping simulations will be validated with plant measurements.This can then to a certain extentvalidate the simulation of the strand with M-EMS too,as it serves as the basis for the nail dipping model.