Created in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.

Continuous Casting

This model is licensed under the COMSOL Software License Agreement 5.5.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. See www.comsol.com/trademarks.
Introduction
This example simulates the process of continuous casting of a metal rod from a molten
state (Figure 1). To optimize the casting process in terms of casting rate and cooling, it is
helpful to model the thermal and fluid dynamic aspects of the process. To get accurate
results, you must model the melt flow field in combination with the heat transfer and phase
change. The model includes the phase transition from melt to solid, both in terms of latent
heat and the varying physical properties.

die
Holding furnace
Brake ring

mould
Mould (water
cooled)

Modeled geometry
air exposure

Strand

Saw

Figure 1: Continuous metal-casting process with a view of the modeled section.

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This example simplifies the rod’s 3D geometry in Figure 1 to an axisymmetric 2D model
in the rz-plane. Figure 2 shows the dimensions of the 2D geometry.
inlet

die
brake ring

mold
air exposure
z

Figure 2: 2D axisymmetric model of the casting process.

As the melt cools down in the mold it solidifies. The phase transition releases latent heat,
which the model includes. Furthermore, for metal alloys, the transition is often spread out
over a temperature range. As the material solidifies, the material properties change
considerably. Finally, the model also includes the “mushy” zone — a mixture of solid and
melted material that occurs due to the rather broad transition temperature of the alloy and
the solidification kinetics.

This example models the casting process as being stationary using the Heat Transfer in
Fluids interface combined with the Laminar Flow interface.

Model Definition
The process operates at steady state, because it is a continuous process. The heat transport
is described by the equation:

C p u  T +    – kT  = Q

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where k, Cp, and Q denote thermal conductivity, specific heat, and heating power per unit
volume (heat source term), respectively.

As the melt cools down in the mold, it solidifies. During the phase transition, a significant
amount of latent heat is released. The total amount of heat released per unit mass of alloy
during the transition is given by the change in enthalpy, H. In addition, the specific heat
capacity, Cp, also changes considerably during the transition.

As opposed to pure metals, an alloy generally undergoes a broad temperature transition

zone, over several kelvin, in which a mixture of both solid and molten material co-exist in
a “mushy” zone. To account for the latent heat related to the phase transition, the
Apparent Heat capacity method is used through the Heat Transfer with Phase Change
domain condition. The half-width of the transition interval, T, is set to 10 K in this case,
and represents half the transition temperature span.

This example models the laminar flow by describing the fluid velocity, u, and the pressure,
p, according to the equations

u
+ u   u =   – pI +   u +  u   –  ------- –     u I + F
T 2

t  3 


+    u  = 0
t

where  is the density (in this case constant),  is the viscosity, and is the dilatational
viscosity (here assumed to be zero). Here, the role of the source term, F, is to dampen the
velocity at the phase-change interface so that it becomes that of the solidified phase after
the transition. The source term follows from the equation (see Ref. 1)

2
1 – 
F = --------------------
3
A mush  u – u cast 
 +

where  can be seen as the volume fraction of the liquid phase; Amush and  represent
arbitrary constants (Amush should be large and small to produce a proper damping); and
ucast is the velocity of the cast rod.

Table 1 reviews the material properties in this model.

TABLE 1: MATERIAL PROPERTIES.

PROPERTY SYMBOL MELT SOLID

Density  (kg/m3) 8500 8500

Heat capacity at constant pressure Cp (J/(kg·K)) 530 380

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TABLE 1: MATERIAL PROPERTIES.

PROPERTY SYMBOL MELT SOLID

Thermal conductivity k (W/(m·K)) 200 200

Dynamic viscosity  (Ns/m2) 0.0434 -
Furthermore, the melting temperature, Tm, and enthalpy, H, are set to 1356 K and
205 kJ/kg, respectively.

The model uses the parametric solver in combination with adaptive meshing to solve the
problem efficiently. In particular, using an adaptive mesh makes it possible to resolve the
steep gradients in the mushy zone at a comparatively low computational cost.

Results and Discussion

The plots in Figure 3 display the temperature and phase distributions, showing that the
melt cools down and solidifies in the mold region. Interestingly, the transition zone
stretches out towards the center of the rod because of poorer cooling in that area.

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Figure 3: Temperature distribution (top) and fraction of liquid phase (bottom) near the inlet
part of the cast at a casting rate of 1.6 mm/s.

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With the modeled casting rate, the rod is fully solidified before leaving the mold (the first
section after the die). This means that the process engineers can increase the casting rate
without running into problems, thus increasing the production rate.

The phase transition occurs in a very narrow zone although the model uses a transition
half width, T, of 10 K. In reality it would be even more distinct if a pure metal were being
cast but somewhat broader if the cast material were an alloy with a wider T.

It is interesting to study in detail the flow field in the melt as it exits the die.

Figure 4: Velocity field with streamlines near the inlet part of the process.

In Figure 4, notice the disturbance in the streamlines close to the die wall resulting in a
vortex. This eddy flow could create problems with nonuniform surface quality in a real
process. Process engineers can thus use the model to avoid these problems and find an
optimal die shape.

To help determine how to optimize process cooling, Figure 5 plots the conductive heat
flux. It shows that the conductive heat flux is very large in the mold zone. This is a
consequence of the heat released during the phase transition, which is cooled by the water-
cooling jacket of the mold. An interesting phenomenon of the process is the peak of
conductive heat flux appearing in the center of the flow at the transition zone.

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Figure 5: The cooling viewed as conductive heat flux in the domains (top), and through the
outer boundary (the cooling zones) after the die (bottom).

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Furthermore, by plotting the conductive heat flux at the outer boundary for the process
as in the lower plot in Figure 5, you can see that a majority of the process cooling occurs
in the mold. More interestingly, the heat flux varies along the mold wall length. This
information can help in optimizing the cooling of the mold (that is, the cooling rate and
choice of cooling method).

You solve the model using a built-in adaptive meshing technique. This is necessary because
the transition zone — that is, the region where the phase change occurs — requires a fine
discretization. Figure 6 depicts the final mesh of the model. Notice that the majority of
the elements are concentrated to the transition zone.

Figure 6: Close-up of the final computational mesh, resulting from the built-in adaptive
technique.

The adaptive meshing technique allows for fast and accurate calculations even if the
transition width is brought down to a low value, such as for pure metals.

Reference
1. V.R. Voller and C. Prakash, “A fixed grid numerical modeling methodology for
convection — diffusion mushy region phase-change problems,” Int.J.Heat Mass
Transfer, vol. 30, pp. 1709–1719, 1987.

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Application Library path: Heat_Transfer_Module/Thermal_Processing/
continuous_casting

Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.

NEW
In the New window, click Model Wizard.

MODEL WIZARD
1 In the Model Wizard window, click 2D Axisymmetric.
2 In the Select Physics tree, select Fluid Flow>Nonisothermal Flow>Laminar Flow.
3 Click Add.
4 Click Study.
5 In the Select Study tree, select General Studies>Stationary.
6 Click Done.

GLOBAL DEFINITIONS

Parameters 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Global Definitions click Parameters 1.
2 In the Settings window for Parameters, locate the Parameters section.
3 Click Load from File.
4 Browse to the model’s Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
continuous_casting_parameters.txt.
Note, in particular, the value of the parameter dT, which represents the parameter T
in the Model Definition section. It will apply when you solve with adaptive mesh
refinement because that solution stage is not related to a parametric study. It is then
crucial that the value of dT matches that of the final parameter step for the parametric
solution that is used as the initial solution.

Variables 1
1 In the Home toolbar, click Variables and choose Local Variables.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.

10 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Domain.
4 From the Selection list, choose All domains.
Define the variables by loading the corresponding text file provided.
5 Locate the Variables section. Click Load from File.
6 Browse to the model’s Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
continuous_casting_variables.txt.

GEOMETRY 1

Rectangle 1 (r1)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Rectangle.
2 In the Settings window for Rectangle, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 0.065.
4 In the Height text field, type 0.1.
5 Locate the Position section. In the z text field, type -0.1.
6 In the Geometry toolbar, click Build All.

Rectangle 2 (r2)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Rectangle.
2 In the Settings window for Rectangle, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 0.0625.
4 In the Height text field, type 0.025.
5 Locate the Position section. In the z text field, type -0.125.
6 In the Geometry toolbar, click Build All.

Rectangle 3 (r3)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Rectangle.
2 In the Settings window for Rectangle, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 0.11575.
4 In the Height text field, type 1.4075.
5 Locate the Position section. In the z text field, type -1.5725.

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6 Click to expand the Layers section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Layer name Thickness (m)

Layer 1 0.6
Layer 2 0.4
Layer 3 0.3675

7 In the Geometry toolbar, click Build All.

8 Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics toolbar.

Polygon 1 (pol1)
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Polygon.
2 In the Settings window for Polygon, locate the Coordinates section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

r (m) z (m) Constrain

0 -0.125
0 -0.165
0.11575 -0.165
0.0625 -0.125
0 -0.125

4 In the Geometry toolbar, click Build All.

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5 Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics toolbar.

This completes the geometry modeling stage.

MATERIALS
Now, add the following two materials to the model, labeled Solid Metal Alloy and Liquid
Metal Alloy. The solid metal alloy is used in the Heat Transfer with Phase Change feature for
the solid phase, while the liquid metal alloy is used for the liquid phase. The liquid metal
alloy also defines fluid properties used in the Laminar Flow interface.

Material 1 (mat1)
1 In the Materials toolbar, click Blank Material.
2 In the Settings window for Material, type Solid Metal Alloy in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Material Contents section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Variable Value Unit Property

group
Dynamic viscosity mu 0.0434 Pa·s Basic
Thermal conductivity k_iso ; kii = 200 W/(m·K) Basic
k_iso, kij = 0
Density rho 8500 kg/m³ Basic

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Property Variable Value Unit Property
group
Heat capacity at constant Cp Cp_s J/(kg·K) Basic
pressure
Ratio of specific heats gamma 1 1 Basic
Material 2 (mat2)
1 In the Materials toolbar, click Blank Material.
2 In the Settings window for Material, type Liquid Metal Alloy in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Geometric Entity Selection section. From the Selection list, choose All domains.
4 Locate the Material Contents section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Variable Value Unit Property

group
Dynamic viscosity mu 0.0434 Pa·s Basic
Thermal conductivity k_iso ; kii = 200 W/(m·K) Basic
k_iso, kij = 0
Density rho 8500 kg/m³ Basic
Heat capacity at constant Cp Cp_l J/(kg·K) Basic
pressure
Ratio of specific heats gamma 1 1 Basic

LAMINAR FLOW (SPF)

Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Laminar Flow (spf) click
Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
3 Specify the u vector as

0 r
v_cast z

Inlet 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Inlet.
2 Select Boundary 15 only.
3 In the Settings window for Inlet, locate the Boundary Condition section.
4 From the list, choose Pressure.

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Outlet 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Outlet.
2 Select Boundary 2 only.
3 In the Settings window for Outlet, locate the Boundary Condition section.
4 From the list, choose Velocity.
5 Locate the Velocity section. Click the Velocity field button.
6 Specify the u0 vector as

0 r
v_cast z

Wall 2
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Wall.
2 Select Boundaries 20–22 only.
3 In the Settings window for Wall, locate the Boundary Condition section.
4 From the Wall condition list, choose Slip.

Volume Force 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Domains and choose Volume Force.
2 In the Settings window for Volume Force, locate the Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose All domains.
4 Locate the Volume Force section. Specify the F vector as

Fr r
Fz z

Ambient Properties 1 (ampr1)

1 In the Physics toolbar, click Shared Properties and choose Ambient Properties.
2 In the Settings window for Ambient Properties, locate the Ambient Conditions section.
3 In the Tamb text field, type 300[K].
This defines the ambient temperature for heat transfer between the outer surfaces and
the surroundings.

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HEAT TRANSFER IN FLUIDS (HT)

Fluid 1
In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Heat Transfer in Fluids (ht) click
Fluid 1.

Phase Change Material 1

1 In the Physics toolbar, click Attributes and choose Phase Change Material.
2 In the Settings window for Phase Change Material, locate the Phase Change section.
3 In the Tpc, 12 text field, type T_m.
4 In the T12 text field, type 2*dT.
The parameter dT is multiplied by 2 because it is only the half width of the phase change
interval.
5 In the L12 text field, type dH.
6 Locate the Phase 1 section. From the Material, phase 1 list, choose
Solid Metal Alloy (mat1).
7 Locate the Phase 2 section. From the Material, phase 2 list, choose
Liquid Metal Alloy (mat2).

Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, click Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
3 In the T text field, type T_in.

Inflow 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Inflow.
2 Select Boundary 15 only.
3 In the Settings window for Inflow, locate the Upstream Properties section.
4 In the Tustr text field, type T_in.

Heat Flux 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Heat Flux.
2 Select Boundary 23 only.
3 In the Settings window for Heat Flux, locate the Heat Flux section.
4 Click the Convective heat flux button.
5 In the h text field, type h_br.
6 From the Text list, choose Ambient temperature (ampr1).

16 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
Heat Flux 2
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Heat Flux.
2 Select Boundary 22 only.
3 In the Settings window for Heat Flux, locate the Heat Flux section.
4 Click the Convective heat flux button.
5 In the h text field, type h_mold.
6 From the Text list, choose Ambient temperature (ampr1).

Heat Flux 3
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Heat Flux.
2 Select Boundaries 20 and 21 only.
3 In the Settings window for Heat Flux, locate the Heat Flux section.
4 Click the Convective heat flux button.
5 In the h text field, type h_air.
6 From the Text list, choose Ambient temperature (ampr1).

Outflow 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Outflow.
2 Select Boundary 2 only.

Surface-to-Ambient Radiation 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Surface-to-Ambient Radiation.
2 Select Boundaries 20 and 21 only.
3 In the Settings window for Surface-to-Ambient Radiation, locate the Surface-to-
Ambient Radiation section.
4 From the  list, choose User defined. In the associated text field, type eps_s.
5 From the Tamb list, choose Ambient temperature (ampr1).

MESH 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Mesh 1.
2 In the Settings window for Mesh, locate the Physics-Controlled Mesh section.
3 From the Element size list, choose Finer.

Size
In the Mesh toolbar, click Edit.

17 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
Boundary Layers 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Boundary Layers 1 and choose Delete.
2 Click Yes to confirm.
Deleting the boundary layers is necessary in order to use the adaptive mesh
functionality.

Size 1
1 Select Boundaries 16–21 only.
2 In the Settings window for Size, locate the Element Size section.
3 From the Predefined list, choose Fine.
4 In the Model Builder window, click Mesh 1.
5 Click Build All.

STUDY 1
Compute the solution using a three-step process. First, solve the problem using dT as a
continuation parameter with the parametric solver on the default mesh, gradually
decreasing the value of dT. Then, use the adaptive solver to adapt the mesh. Finally, use
the parametric solver again to decrease dT further down to a value of 10 K.

1 In the Model Builder window, click Study 1.

2 In the Settings window for Study, locate the Study Settings section.
3 Clear the Generate default plots check box.
The default plots are disabled from this study because they will be added from the last
study.

Step 1: Stationary
1 In the Model Builder window, under Study 1 click Step 1: Stationary.
2 In the Settings window for Stationary, click to expand the Study Extensions section.
3 Select the Auxiliary sweep check box.
4 Click Add.
5 In the table, enter the following settings:

Parameter name Parameter value list Parameter unit

dT (Temperature transition zone 300 100 50 30 K
half width)

18 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
Stationary 2
1 In the Study toolbar, click Study Steps and choose Stationary>Stationary.
2 In the Settings window for Stationary, click to expand the Adaptation and Error Estimates
section.
3 From the Adaptation and error estimates list, choose Adaptation and error estimates.
4 Clear the Allow coarsening check box.
5 In the Study toolbar, click Compute.

LEVEL 2 ADAPTED MESH 2

Before proceeding with the final solution stage, inspect the adapted mesh. You find it
under the automatically created Meshes branch in the model tree.

1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Component 1 (comp1)>Meshes node, then click
Level 2 Adapted Mesh 2.
2 In the Model Builder window, expand the Meshes node, then click Mesh 2.
3 Click the Zoom Box button in the Graphics toolbar and then use the mouse to zoom in
on the transition zone where the mesh is the densest.
The mesh should look like that in Figure 6.

Add a second study for the second parametric study step.

ADD STUDY
1 In the Study toolbar, click Add Study to open the Add Study window.
2 Go to the Add Study window.
3 Find the Studies subsection. In the Select Study tree, select General Studies>Stationary.
4 Click Add Study in the window toolbar.
5 In the Study toolbar, click Add Study to close the Add Study window.

STUDY 2
In order to get faster convergence, you need to use the previous solution as the initial value
for this study.

Step 1: Stationary
1 In the Model Builder window, under Study 2 click Step 1: Stationary.
2 In the Settings window for Stationary, click to expand the Values of Dependent Variables
section.

19 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
3 Find the Initial values of variables solved for subsection. From the Settings list, choose
User controlled.
4 From the Method list, choose Solution.
5 From the Study list, choose Study 1, Stationary 2.
6 Locate the Study Extensions section. Select the Auxiliary sweep check box.
7 Click Add.
8 In the table, enter the following settings:

Parameter name Parameter value list Parameter unit

dT (Temperature transition zone 25 20 16 13 10 K
half width)

Notice that Mesh 2, the adapted mesh, is the default selection in the mesh list. Keep this
setting.

Again, a fully coupled solver is more robust for this model. Tweak the solver sequence
accordingly with the instructions below.

Solution 7 (sol7)
1 In the Study toolbar, click Show Default Solver.
2 In the Model Builder window, expand the Solution 7 (sol7) node.
3 Right-click Stationary Solver 1 and choose Fully Coupled.
4 In the Study toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS

Velocity (spf)
To reproduce the plot in Figure 4, plot the velocity field as a combined surface and
streamline plot.

Surface
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Velocity (spf) node, then click Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 From the Unit list, choose mm/s.

Velocity (spf)
In the Model Builder window, click Velocity (spf).

Streamline 1
1 In the Velocity (spf) toolbar, click Streamline.

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2 In the Settings window for Streamline, locate the Streamline Positioning section.
3 From the Positioning list, choose Magnitude controlled.
4 In the Density text field, type 12.
5 Locate the Coloring and Style section. Find the Point style subsection. From the Type list,
choose Arrow.
6 In the Velocity (spf) toolbar, click Plot.

Pressure (spf)
The second default plot shows the pressure profile in the 2D slice.

Velocity 3D (spf)
The third default plot shows the velocity magnitude in 3D obtained by revolution of the
2D axisymmetric data set.

Temperature, 3D (ht)
This default plot shows the temperature in 3D obtained by revolution of the 2D
axisymmetric data set.

Proceed to reproduce the lower plot in Figure 3, showing the fraction of liquid phase.

2D Plot Group 6
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Fraction of Liquid Phase in the Label
text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study 2/Solution 7 (sol7).

Surface 1
1 In the Fraction of Liquid Phase toolbar, click Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component 1>Definitions>Variables>
alpha - Fraction of liquid phase.
3 In the Fraction of Liquid Phase toolbar, click Plot.
Notice, in particular, the narrow transition zone between the two phases.

To reproduce the upper plot in Figure 3, which visualizes the temperature and velocity
fields, proceed as follows.

2D Plot Group 7
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.

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2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Temperature, Velocity Fields in
the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study 2/Solution 7 (sol7).

Surface 1
1 In the Temperature, Velocity Fields toolbar, click Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component 1>Heat Transfer in Fluids>
Temperature>T - Temperature - K.
3 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, choose ThermalLight.
4 In the Temperature, Velocity Fields toolbar, click Plot.

Temperature, Velocity Fields

In the Model Builder window, click Temperature, Velocity Fields.

Streamline 1
1 In the Temperature, Velocity Fields toolbar, click Streamline.
2 In the Settings window for Streamline, locate the Streamline Positioning section.
3 From the Positioning list, choose Magnitude controlled.
4 In the Density text field, type 12.
5 Locate the Coloring and Style section. Find the Point style subsection. From the Type list,
choose Arrow.
6 In the Temperature, Velocity Fields toolbar, click Plot.

Proceed to reproduce the heat flux plots shown in Figure 5.

2D Plot Group 8
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 2D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 2D Plot Group, type Conductive Heat Flux in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study 2/Solution 7 (sol7).

Surface 1
1 In the Conductive Heat Flux toolbar, click Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of
the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component 1>Heat Transfer in Fluids>
Domain fluxes>ht.dfluxMag - Conductive heat flux magnitude - W/m².
3 In the Conductive Heat Flux toolbar, click Plot.

22 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
Conductive Heat Flux
In the Model Builder window, click Conductive Heat Flux.

Streamline 1
1 In the Conductive Heat Flux toolbar, click Streamline.
2 In the Settings window for Streamline, locate the Streamline Positioning section.
3 From the Positioning list, choose Magnitude controlled.
4 In the Density text field, type 12.
5 Locate the Coloring and Style section. Find the Point style subsection. From the Type list,
choose Arrow.
6 In the Conductive Heat Flux toolbar, click Plot.
The following steps reproduce the lower plot in the same figure, showing the
conductive heat flux through the outer boundaries.

1D Plot Group 9
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 1D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 1D Plot Group, type Conductive Heat Flux through
Outer Boundaries in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study 2/Solution 7 (sol7).
4 From the Parameter selection (dT) list, choose Last.
5 Click to expand the Title section. From the Title type list, choose Manual.
6 In the Title text area, type Conductive heat flux through outer boundaries.
7 Locate the Plot Settings section. Select the x-axis label check box.
8 In the associated text field, type z-coordinate (m).
9 Select the y-axis label check box.
10 In the associated text field, type Normal conductive heat flux (W/m^2).

Line Graph 1
1 In the Conductive Heat Flux through Outer Boundaries toolbar, click Line Graph.
2 Select Boundaries 20–23 only.
3 In the Settings window for Line Graph, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner
of the y-axis data section. From the menu, choose Component 1>Heat Transfer in Fluids>
Boundary fluxes>ht.ndflux - Normal conductive heat flux - W/m².
4 Click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of the x-axis data section. From the
menu, choose Component 1>Geometry>Coordinate>z - z-coordinate.

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5 Click to expand the Legends section. Click to collapse the Legends section. Click to
expand the Quality section. From the Recover list, choose Within domains.
6 Click to collapse the Quality section. In the Conductive Heat Flux through Outer
Boundaries toolbar, click Plot.
Compare the result with the lower plot of Figure 5.

Datasets
Finally, verify that the final mesh is sufficiently fine to resolve the temperature-dependence
of the latent heat.

Cut Line 2D 1
1 In the Results toolbar, click Cut Line 2D.
2 In the Settings window for Cut Line 2D, locate the Line Data section.
3 In row Point 1, set r to 0.045, and z to -0.42.
4 In row Point 2, set r to 0.085, and z to -0.43.
These values are chosen such that the two points are on opposite sides of and
approximately perpendicular to the transition zone.
Alternatively, you can select the two end points and create the Cut Line 2D data set by
first clicking the Fraction of Liquid Phase node and then clicking in the Graphics window
after first selecting, in turn, First Point for Cut Line and Second Point for Cut Line in the
main toolbar.
5 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study 2/Solution 7 (sol7).

1D Plot Group 10
1 In the Results toolbar, click 1D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 1D Plot Group, type Temperature Dependence, Latent
Heat in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Cut Line 2D 1.

Line Graph 1
1 In the Temperature Dependence, Latent Heat toolbar, click Line Graph.
2 In the Settings window for Line Graph, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner
of the y-axis data section. From the menu, choose Component 1>Definitions>Variables>
D - Temperature dependence, latent heat - 1/K.
3 Click to expand the Legends section. Select the Show legends check box.

24 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
4 In the Temperature Dependence, Latent Heat toolbar, click Plot.

As you can see, the curves for the lower T values, in particular at 10 K, are not entirely
smooth. Thus, if you were to reduce T further to model the casting of some pure
metal, you would need to increase the mesh resolution.

25 | CONTINUOUS CASTING
26 | CONTINUOUS CASTING