Technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of continuous casting, in particular to a tundish flow stabilizer.

Background art

In a continuous steel casting process, to prevent the flow of steel from splashing or piercing the bottom of the tundish when it enters the tundish, and ensure smooth pouring and continuous casting capability, a flow stabilizer is often fitted in the impact region of the tundish. Furthermore, the tundish flow stabilizer is a very important device for controlling flow in the tundish, being installed directly below the ladle shroud, its chief function being to buffer the steel flow pouring stream, curb turbulence kinetic energy, and protect the tundish lining; at the same time, a rising flow forms in the pouring stream zone of the tundish, optimizing the steel flow field and increasing the removal rate of inclusions from the steel flow.

In the prior art, a tundish flow stabilizer is generally a device with an internal cavity space and a semi-closed shape. Specifically, the tundish flow stabilizer comprises a block-like main body with a cavity, and an opening in communication with the cavity is provided in a top face of the main body. Steel flow enters the cavity through the opening, and strikes inner walls of the main body within the cavity, dissipating turbulence kinetic energy.

However, a single cavity has limited ability to dissipate the turbulence kinetic energy of the steel flow pouring stream. That is, there is little dissipation of turbulence kinetic energy of the steel flow pouring stream through the striking of the main body inner walls alone, so the steel flow still has a significant amount of turbulence kinetic energy when it leaves the flow stabilizer. Consequently, the tundish flow stabilizer in the prior art produces poor results in terms of curbing turbulence kinetic energy, and also exhibits the phenomenon of the flow of steel splashing or piercing the bottom of the tundish.

Document EP2598269A1 discloses an impact pad for use in tundish of continuous casting steel during pouring out of molten steel from the casting ladle into the tundish. The impact pad has an impact bottom provided with spherical corrugations uniformly distributed. i Document US6102260 A discloses a chamber for receiving a downward flow of liquid metal and including a first faceted sidewall having a plurality of facets formed therein. A second wall extends inwardly and downwardly from the first faceted wall toward the upper opening. Buttresses are spaced along the first faceted wall. Each of the buttresses extends between an impact surface and the second faceted wall.

Summary of the invention

An objective of the present invention is to provide a tundish flow stabilizer which enables a flow of steel entering it to dissipate most of its turbulence kinetic energy, so that the flow of steel has less or weak turbulence kinetic energy when it leaves, thus avoiding a situation where the flow of steel splashes or pierces the bottom of the tundish.

According to the above concept, the technical solution employed by the present invention is as follows:

A tundish flow stabilizer, comprising a flow stabilizer body and multiple flow-guiding protrusions, the flow stabilizer body being a hollow structure, the multiple flow-guiding protrusions being located in the flow stabilizer body and fixed to a bottom wall of the flow stabilizer body, a first end of each said flow-guiding protrusion extending to a sidewall of the flow stabilizer body, a flow path being formed between two adjacent said flow-guiding protrusions, the tundish flow stabilizer comprising a flow-stabilizing plate, the flow-stabilizing plate being provided in the flow stabilizer body and perpendicularly connected to the sidewall, the flow-stabilizing plate having a polygonal through-hole which runs through the flowstabilizing plate in the direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body, multiple corners of the through-hole being in one-to-one correspondence with the multiple first ends, each corner of the through-hole being located directly above the first end of one flow-guiding protrusion. In the tundish flow stabilizer provided in the present invention, as a result of providing the multiple flow-guiding protrusions on the bottom wall inside the flow stabilizer body, with the multiple flow-guiding protrusions forming multiple flow paths, the flow of steel entering the flow stabilizer body is split into multiple flows of steel by the multiple flow-guiding protrusions, thus achieving splitting of the flow of steel. In the process of being split, the flow of steel strikes the flow-guiding protrusions, dissipating some of its turbulence kinetic energy, and the sidewall of the flow stabilizer body can also dissipate some of the turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel. Thus, most of the turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel can be dissipated in the flow stabilizer body, such that the flow of steel has less or weak turbulence kinetic energy when leaving the flow stabilizer body. Consequently, the tundish flow stabilizer can effectively curb the turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel, avoiding a situation where the flow of steel splashes or pierces the bottom of the tundish.

Furthermore, together with the flow-guiding protrusions and the sidewalls, the flow-stabilizing plate forms a semi-closed space, being able to effectively control the flow speed of the flow of steel and change the flow direction of the flow of steel. The flow of steel can dissipate most of its turbulence kinetic energy by flowing in the semi-closed space, so stabilization of the flow of steel is achieved, such that the steel flows more stably when leaving the tundish flow stabilizer.

Additionally, the polygonal shape of the flow-stabilizing plate, with multiple corners, provides an especially large impact area for the entering flow.

Optionally, for each said flow-guiding protrusion, a dimension of the flow-guiding protrusion in a direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body gradually decreases in the direction from the first end towards a second end of the flow-guiding protrusion.

Optionally, each said corner of the through-hole is in front of the first end corresponding thereto in the direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body.

Optionally, the flow stabilizer body has a polygonal cross section, the multiple flow-guiding protrusions are in one-to-one correspondence with multiple sidewalls of the flow stabilizer body, and the first end of each said flow-guiding protrusion extends to the corresponding sidewall of the flow stabilizer body.

Optionally, the external contour of the flow-stabilizing plate is the same as the cross-sectional shape of the flow stabilizer body, and the comers of the through-hole are angularly shifted with respect to the straight edges of the flow-stabilizing plate.

Optionally, the external contour of the flow-stabilizing plate is the same as the cross-sectional shape of the flow stabilizer body, and the corners of the through-hole are opposite the straight edges of the flow-stabilizing plate.

Optionally, the flow-stabilizing plate is perpendicularly connected to a part of the sidewall, such that the flow-stabilizing plate partitions the flow stabilizer body to form an upper cavity and a lower cavity.

Optionally, the tundish flow stabilizer further comprises a lip structure, the lip structure being located at a top end of the flow stabilizer body and perpendicularly connected to the sidewall in the peripheral direction of the flow stabilizer body.

Optionally, a top face of the lip structure is coplanar with an end face at a top end of the flow stabilizer body.

Optionally, the lip structure comprises multiple lip parts connected head-to-tail, the multiple lip parts being in one-to-one correspondence with the multiple sidewalls of the flow stabilizer body, and each said lip part being perpendicularly connected to the sidewall corresponding thereto.

Optionally, at least one of the flow-guiding protrusions, the flow-stabilizing plate and the lip structure has chamfers.

Optionally, there is a gap between a second end of each flow-guiding protrusion and the geometric centre of the bottom wall.

Optionally, the second ends of two adjacent flow-guiding protrusions are connected to each other.

Optionally, an end portion of the second end is a square and the multiple second ends enclose a prism.

Optionally, an end portion of the second end is a straight line and the multiple second ends form a polygon.

Optionally, the flow-guiding protrusions cover no more than 20% of the surface of the bottom wall of the flow stabilizer body.

Optionally, the multiple flow-guiding protrusions are arranged at equal intervals around a central axis of the flow stabilizer body.

The present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a top view of a tundish flow stabilizer provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the present invention along A- A shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a structural schematic view of a tundish flow stabilizer provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a tundish flow stabilizer provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a tundish flow stabilizer provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another tundish flow stabilizer provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figures:

1 - flow stabilizer body; 11 - bottom wall; 12 - sidewall; 2 - flow-guiding protrusion; 21 - first end; 22 - second end; 23 - first chamfer; 3 - flow-stabilizing plate; 31 - through-hole; 311 - corner; 32 - second chamfer; 4 - lip structure; 41 - lip part; 42 - third chamfer.

Detailed description

To clarify the technical problem solved, the technical solution used and the technical effect achieved by the present invention, the technical solution of the present invention is explained further below through specific embodiments with reference to the drawings. It will be understood that the specific embodiments described here are merely intended to explain the present invention, not to limit it. It must also be explained that to facilitate description, only parts relevant to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not everything.

In the present document, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms “connected” and “fixed” should be understood in a broad sense, e.g. may mean fixedly connected, removably connected or forming a single body; mechanically connected or electrically connected; directly connected, or indirectly connected via an intermediate medium; internal communication between two elements, or an interactive relationship between two elements. A person skilled in the art may understand the specific meaning of the abovementioned terms in the present document according to the particular circumstances.

In the present document, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the placement of a first feature “on” or “under” a second feature may include direct contact between the first and second features, or contact between the first and second features via another feature therebetween rather than direct contact. Furthermore, the placement of a first feature “on”, “above” and “on top of’ a second feature includes placement of the first feature directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. The placement of a first feature “under”, “below” and “underneath” a second feature includes placement of the first feature directly below and obliquely below the second feature, or merely indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is less than that of the second feature.

In the description of this embodiment, orientational or positional relationships expressed by the terms “up”, “down”, “right”, etc. are based on the orientational or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are merely intended to facilitate description and simplify operation, without indicating or implying that the apparatus or element referred to must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, so must not be construed as limiting the present document. In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are merely intended to serve a differentiating function in the description, and have no special meaning.

This embodiment provides a tundish flow stabilizer which enables a flow of steel entering it to dissipate most of its turbulence kinetic energy, so that the flow of steel has weaker turbulence kinetic energy when it leaves, thus avoiding a situation where the flow of steel splashes or pierces the bottom of the tundish.

As shown in Figs. 1 - 3, the tundish flow stabilizer comprises a flow stabilizer body 1 and multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 disposed in the flow stabilizer body 1. The flow stabilizer body 1 is a hollow structure, with an opening in an end face at a top end of the flow stabilizer body 1, to enable the flow of steel to enter the flow stabilizer body 1 through the opening.

The multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 are located in the flow stabilizer body 1, and fixedly disposed on a bottom wall 11 of the flow stabilizer body 1. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 1, the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 are arranged at equal intervals around a central axis of the flow stabilizer body 1; in this embodiment, the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 are arranged in a radiating configuration centred at the geometric centre of the bottom wall 1. A first end 21 of each flow-guiding protrusion 2 extends to a sidewall 12 of the flow stabilizer body 1, and there is a gap between a second end 22 of each flow-guiding protrusion 2 and the geometric centre of the bottom wall 11, i.e. the second end 22 does not extend to the geometric centre of the bottom wall 11. A flow path for steel to flow in is formed between two adjacent flow-guiding protrusions 2; furthermore, referring to Fig. 5, the second ends 22 of two adjacent flow-guiding protrusions 2 are connected to each other. The dissipating effect of the tundish flow stabilizer works even if the entering flow of steel is horizontally shifted with respect to the centre of the tundish flow stabilizer.

In some embodiments, an end portion of the second end 22 is a straight line or a square; when the second end 22 is a straight line, as shown in Fig. 1, the multiple second ends 22 form a polygon (in Fig. 1, the multiple second ends 22 enclose a hexagon); when the end portion of the second end 22 is a square, the multiple second ends 22 enclose a prism.

In the tundish flow stabilizer provided in this embodiment, as a result of providing the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 on the bottom wall 11 inside the flow stabilizer body 1, with the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 forming multiple flow paths, the flow of steel entering the flow stabilizer body 1 is split into multiple flows of steel by the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2, thus achieving splitting of the flow of steel. In the process of being split, the flow of steel strikes the flow-guiding protrusions 2, dissipating some of its turbulence kinetic energy, and the sidewall of the flow stabilizer body 1 can also dissipate some of the turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel. Thus, most of the turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel can be dissipated in the flow stabilizer body 1, such that the flow of steel has weaker turbulence kinetic energy when leaving the flow stabilizer body 1. Consequently, the tundish flow stabilizer can effectively curb the turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel, avoiding a situation where the flow of steel splashes or pierces the bottom of the tundish.

Optionally, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, for each flow-guiding protrusion 2, the dimension of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 in the direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body 1 gradually decreases in the direction from the first end 21 towards the second end 22 of the flow-guiding protrusion 2, i.e. the height of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 gradually decreases in the direction from the first end 21 towards the second end 22, i.e. the height of the first end 21 of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 is greater than the height of the second end 22; moreover, a top face of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 is a smooth flat surface or curved surface, and a longitudinal section of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 is a right-angled triangle. The above-described structure of the flow-guiding protrusions 2 improves the effect in terms of guiding the flow of steel, making it easier for the first ends 21 to split the flow of steel, and also making it easier for the flows of steel to reconverge at the second ends 22. It must be explained that to prevent the flows of steel from developing turbulence kinetic energy again due to impact when mixing at the second ends 22, the end portion of each second end 22 is a straight line.

Optionally, referring to Fig. 5, the flow stabilizer body 1 has a polygonal cross section; the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2 are in one-to-one correspondence with multiple sidewalls 12 of the flow stabilizer body 1, and the first end 21 of each flow-guiding protrusion 2 extends to the corresponding sidewall 12 of the flow stabilizer body 1. Compared with having the flow-guiding protrusion 2 extend to an angle of the flow stabilizer body 1, this enables the flow-guiding protrusion 2 to have a shorter length, and can thus reduce material consumption, as well as reducing the weight of the tundish flow stabilizer. In some embodiments, the first end 21 of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 extends to the midline of the sidewall 12 corresponding thereto; in this embodiment, the flow stabilizer body 1 has a hexagonal cross section, and 6 flow-guiding protrusions 2 are provided.

As shown in Fig. 6, the tundish flow stabilizer further comprises a flow-stabilizing plate 3, the flow-stabilizing plate 3 being provided in the flow stabilizer body 1 and perpendicularly connected to the sidewalls 12; in this embodiment, the flow-stabilizing plate 3 is arranged parallel to the bottom wall 1, and the flow-stabilizing plate 3 has a through-hole 31 which runs through the flow-stabilizing plate 3 in the direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body 1, the purpose of the through-hole 31 being to allow steel to flow through it. The flow-stabilizing plate 3 is used to guide the flow of steel, and, together with the flow-guiding protrusions 2 and the sidewalls 12, the flow-stabilizing plate 3 forms a semi-closed space, being able to effectively control the flow speed of the flow of steel and change the flow direction of the flow of steel. The flow of steel can dissipate most of its turbulence kinetic energy by flowing in the semi-closed space, so stabilization of the flow of steel is achieved, such that the steel flows more stably when leaving the tundish flow stabilizer.

Furthermore, continuing to refer to Fig. 6, the through-hole 31 is a polygonal hole, and multiple corners 311 of the through-hole 31 are in one-to-one correspondence with the first ends 21 of the multiple flow-guiding protrusions 2. Each corner is in front of the first end 21 corresponding thereto in the direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body 1, i.e. each comer 311 of the through-hole 31 is located directly above the first end 21 of one flow-guiding protrusion 2. Preferably, the external contour of the flow-stabilizing plate 3 is the same as the cross-sectional shape of the flow stabilizer body 1, and the corners 311 of the through-hole 31 are angularly shifted and opposite the straight edges of the flow-stabilizing plate 3, thus optimizing the flow field of the flow of steel after entering the flow stabilizer body 1; this can increase the rate of removal of inclusions from the flow of steel.

In this embodiment, the flow-stabilizing plate 3 is perpendicularly connected to a middle part of the sidewall 12 in the direction of extension of the flow stabilizer body 1, such that the flow-stabilizing plate 3 partitions the flow stabilizer body 2 to form an upper cavity and a lower cavity. Each cavity can be used to dissipate turbulence kinetic energy of the flow of steel, thus further improving the flow-stabilizing effect of the tundish flow stabilizer.

Moreover, the flow-guiding protrusions 2 with gradually increasing height cooperate with the flow-stabilizing plate 3, trapping the flow of steel in multiple semi-closed spaces, thus improving further the result in terms of dissipating the kinetic energy of the flow of steel.

Referring to Fig. 4, the tundish flow stabilizer further comprises, optionally, a lip structure 4. The lip structure 4 is located at the top end of the flow stabilizer body 1 and perpendicularly connected to the sidewalls 12 in the peripheral direction of the flow stabilizer body 1, i.e. the lip structure 4 is annular. The lip structure 4 is used to guide the flow of steel, and, together with the flow-stabilizing plate 3, forms a dual flow stabilization structure, thus increasing the reliability of the tundish flow stabilizer. In the process of changing the ladle, the flow of steel has a high flow rate and a fast speed; the lip structure 4 can reduce the flow speed of the flow of steel again, cooperating with the flowstabilizing plate 3 to ensure that the flow speed of the flow of steel is within a suitable range.

In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, a top face of the lip structure 4 is coplanar with the end face at the top end of the flow stabilizer body 1, to prevent the lip structure 4 from blocking the entry of the flow of steel into the flow stabilizer body 1. In some embodiments, the flow stabilizer body 1, flow-guiding protrusions 2, flow-stabilizing plate 3 and lip structure 4 are an integrally formed structure, which can be formed in a single operation by casting.

Optionally, referring to Fig. 4, the lip structure 4 comprises multiple lip parts 41 connected head- to-tail. The multiple lip parts 41 are in one-to-one correspondence with the multiple sidewalls 12 of the flow stabilizer body 1, and each lip part 41 is perpendicularly connected to the sidewall 12 corresponding thereto, such that the external contour of the lip structure 4 matches the cross section of the flow stabilizer body 1, so that the lip structure 4 can be offset with respect to the flow-stabilizing plate 3, and can guide the flow of steel in multiple directions, while facilitating the formation of multiple flow paths, thus further improving the flow stabilization effect of the tundish flow stabilizer.

In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4, an inner edge of the lip structure 4 has a chamfer; for ease of differentiation, this chamfer is called the third chamfer 42. The third chamfer 42 can prevent eddies from forming in the flow of steel when it is flowing. Similarly, as shown in Fig. 5, the top of the flow-guiding protrusion 2 has a first chamfer 23, and as shown in Fig. 2, the flow-stabilizing plate 3 has a second chamfer 32 at the side facing the bottom wall 1.

It must be explained that the tundish flow stabilizer provided in this embodiment, like an ordinary flow stabilizer, needs to be fixed, to control shifting or even floating of the tundish flow stabilizer during casting. A specific method is to place the tundish flow stabilizer at the designated position, cover the edges of the tundish flow stabilizer with the tundish working lining, and bake the working lining so that it solidifies to fix the tundish flow stabilizer in place.

In the tundish flow stabilizer provided in this embodiment, the flow-guiding protrusions 2 protrude from the bottom of the flow stabilizer body 1, and can split the steel flow pouring stream into six streams, avoiding turbulence formed by a high-speed flow of steel striking the flow stabilizer body 1. The flow-guiding protrusions 2 protruding from the bottom and the flow-stabilizing plate protruding from the sidewalls will form a semi-closed space, such that the flow of steel is “trapped” in this semi-closed space, so that a large amount of the kinetic energy of the flow of steel is dissipated, to truly achieve the effect of stabilizing the fluid. There is optionally an annular lip structure 4 at the top of the flow stabilizer body 1; this can reduce the speed of the flow of steel again, so that the flow of steel is more stable. A rising stream is formed, to better promote floating of inclusions in the flow of steel.

The above embodiments merely expound the basic principles and features of the present invention, which is not limited by the above embodiments, and has various changes and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, all such changes and alterations falling within the claimed scope of the present invention. The claimed scope of the present document is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.