A Simple Model on Dendrite Growth during Steel Continuous Casting Process

Wei Guo
1,2
, Lifeng Zhang
1
, Miaoyong Zhu
2
1
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri
S&T), 223 McNutt Hall, Rolla, MO 65409-0330, USA, Email: zhanglife@mst.edu
2
School of Materials & Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, China,
Keywords: Steel Continuous Casting, Solidification, Microstructure, Dendrite Growth
Abstract
Prediction and control of steel microstructure during continuous casting process is an essential
task for steel production. Studies on the micro- structural parameters, which are hardly measured
directly during high temperature solidification process, have significant importance for that purpose.
Dendrite growth is an important phenomenon during steel solidification process, which is the main
existing style in the inner side of the solidifying steel. In the current paper, a simplified mathematical
model for the dendrite growth was used to analyze and calculate the micro- structural parameters for
both medium carbon steel and AISI304 type stainless steels under different casting conditions. The
dendrite tip radius, dendrite growth velocity, dendrite arm spacing, temperature gradient, and dendrite
tip temperature in the front of solid and liquid interface were investigated. Parametric studies for these
two steel grades were also performed. The comparisons showed that the value of micro- structural
parameters for stainless steels is all smaller than that of carbon steels due to its special composition and
solidification mode characteristics.
Nomenclature
C0 original liquid concentration, mass%
C
L
*
equilibrium liquid concentration in front of solid/liquid interface, mass%
C
S
*
equilibrium solid concentration in front of solid/liquid interface, mass%
C
P
specific heat, Jkg
-1
K
-1
C
R
cooling rate,
o
Cs
-1
Cr
eq
equivalent composition of Cr, mass%
D

i
solid diffusion coefficient, = or phase, m
2
s
-1
D
L
liquid diffusion coefficient, m
2
s
-1
D
0o
i
pre-exponential diffusion coefficient, m
2
s
-1
Q
o
i
activation energy, Jmol
-1
R
g
gas constant, 8.3145 JK
-1
mol
-1
G
c
concentration gradient at the solid/liquid interface, mass%m
-1
G
T
average temperature gradient in the interface, Km
-1
G
TS
solid temperature gradient at the dendrite tip, Km
-1
G
TL
liquid temperature gradient at the dendrite tip, Km
-1
Iv(P) Invanstov function
L latent heat, Jkg
-1
Ni
eq
equivalent composition of Ni, mass%
P
c
solute Pclet number, P
c
RV/(2D
L
)
P
t
heat Pclet number, P
t
RV/(2
L
)
R dendrite tip radius, m
T non-equilibrium liquid temperature, K
T
L
liquidus temperature, K
T
S
solidus temperature, K
T
tip
dendrite tip temperature, K
T superheat, K
V growth velocity of the dendrite tip, m/s
V
c
casting speed, m/min
d
1
primary dendrite arm spacing, m
d
2
secondary dendrite arm spacing, m
k
0
/L
equilibrium solute distribution coefficient, stands for ferritic phase or austenitic phase
m
L/
liquid slopes, stands for ferritic phase or austenitic phase
t
f
local solidification time, s

L
liquid thermal diffusion coefficient, m
2
s
-1

i
Fourier number for solute element i

i
+
modified Fourier number

c
a constant value,
c
= 0.1

i
back-diffusion parameter

S
solid conduction coefficient, Wm
-1
K
-1

L
liquid conduction coefficient, Wm
-1
K
-1

c
minimum critical disturbance wavelength, m

*
stability parameter, assumed to be 1/(4
2
) based on the marginal stability criterion

c
function of P
c
, when P
c
<1,
c
1
dimensionless super-saturation

c
concentration dimensionless super-saturation
I Gibbs-Thomson coefficient, mK
ferrite phase
austenite phase
Introduction
The characteristic and capabilities of solidification microstructure were controlled by the
evolution and stability selection of interface shape of solidification. Solidification interface is a typical
configuration of the non-equilibrium structure, which is related to heat transfer, mass transfer, interface
dynamics and capillary functions. Research on the mechanism of solidification microstructure is to
control the structure better. For steel continuous casting process, dendrite growth is a very common
configuration during solidification. Its evolution is to form a stable structure under unstable conditions.
In the current study, dendrite growth was investigated by a numerical method for both medium carbon
steel and AISI304 type stainless steel. Some important micro- structural parameters were studied, and
comparisons between these two steel grades were investigated, which have great importance on the
analysis of solidification structure and the development for improving the steel qualities.
Mathematical Model
Dendrite Growth Model
In the actual solidification process, the micro-structural parameters such as dendrite tip radius,
dendrite growth velocity, temperature gradient and concentration gradient at the front of solid/liquid
(S/L) interface, etc., couldnt be measured directly during this high temperature continuous casting
process, which can directly affect the dendrite growth stability, micro-segregation and the mechanical
capability. A simplified numerical mathematical model was developed
[1]
according to the Invanstov
theory
[2]
, the interface stability theory
[3]
and the minimum critical disturbance wavelength criterion
[4]
and the final expression for it can be obtained as follows:
0
) 1 ( ) exp(
) exp( ) 1 ( 1
2
1
) ( 4
/
0 0 /
0 2 2 *
=

|
|
.
|

\
|

I
l

L
L
c L
P
c c
L
P L c
L
D
k m C
dz
z
z
P P k
C
L
P D
V
c
o
o
c
o o
(1)
If the dendrite growth velocity V is known in advance, with the solute Pelect number P
c
from
Eq.(1), the dendrite tip radius R and liquid concentration at the S/L interface C
L
*
can be obtained
through Invanstov theory and the minimum critical disturbance wavelength criterion. The details about
this model can be seen in the current authors another paper
[1]
.
Figure1 Relationship between dendrite growth velocity and casting speed in mushy zone
There exist great differences for calculating the dendrite growth rate between continuous casting
process and ingot casting process essentially. In the steel continuous casting process, the dendrite
growth rate was combined with the casting speed closely, seen Figure 1. For simplification
[1]
, the
dendrite growth rate can be expressed as follows:
2 '
'
)) ( ( 1
) (
x f
x f
V V
L
L
c
+
=
(2)
The following figure shows the variation of dendrite growth rate with the distance from
meniscus when casting speed is 1.0m/min.
Figure 2 Calculated dendrite growth velocity according to casting speed
Microsegregation Modell
With the progress of solidification, the concentration of each element in the remainder liquid
increases gradually. After the solid fraction reaches 0.9, the microsegregation of P and S increases
remarkably, while the microsegregation of C, Si, and Mn changes gently. Since the liquid film, which
melts the solidification front and induces the inner cracks, appears at the end of solidification, the
microsegregation degree can be expressed by the ratio of the remainder liquid concentration to the
initial concentration of the liquid steel:
0
*
,
0
*
,
kC
C
C
C
i s i l
=
(3)
Solidification Path for Stainless Steell
To predict the capabilities of stainless steels, it is necessary to determine the solidification mode
and solid transformation characteristics. Since the stainless steel has its own solidification
characteristics that are different from other steels, the analysis of its microstructure evolution is closely
related with the special solidification mode. For the solidification of austenitic stainless steels of 300
series, the following modes have been proposed
[5]
:
Mode A: Liq L+
Mode B: Liq L+ L++ +
Mode C: Liq L+ L++ +
Mode D: Liq L+
These modes are illustrated in the Fe-Ni-Cr phase diagram, as shown in Figure 3. Complex
compositions of austenitic stainless steels can be reduced to simple Fe-Ni-Cr ternary alloys by
assuming Ni and Cr equivalent compositions, as suggested express below
[6]
:
Cr
eq
=%Cr+1.37(%Mo)+1.5(%Si)+2(%Nb)+3(%Ti) (4)
Ni
eq
=%Ni+22(%C)+14.2(%N)+0.31(%Mn)+(%Cu) (5)
By using equivalent composition, it is possible to find the solidification sequence by analyzing
Fe-Ni-Cr, as shown in Figure 4. The effect of the alloying elements on the solidification
microstructure can be expressed by the ratio Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
[7]
:
Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
> 1.95 (mode A)
Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.48-1.95 (mode B)
Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.25-1.48 (mode C)
Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
< 1.25 (mode D)
Figure 3 Fe-Cr-Ni Phase diagram at 70% Fe
[8]
Figure 4 Solidification mode diagram
[5]
Methodology and Conditions
The current study focused on the continuous casting of both medium carbon steel slabs with
dimension of 1040-1320mm in width and 220mm in thickness and AISI304 stainless steel slab of 750-
1600mm in width and 220mm in thickness. The compositions of these two steel grades, the thermo-
physical properties, the solute equilibrium distribution coefficients k
0
/L
used in calculation, the liquid-
slope m
L
for each element are presented in Tables 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively. The equivalent compositions
of Cr and Ni for stainless steel can be calculated from Eqs.(4) and Eq.(5) as Cr
eq
=18.7 and Ni
eq
=10.13.
So Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.846, and then the steel solidifies as mode B: Liq L+ L++ +. (Fig.3).
Table 1. Compositions of S20 steel and stainless steel type304
Composition
(mass%)
C Si Mn P S Cr Ni N Mo Cu Sn B Pb
S20 Steel 0.18 0.20 1.0 0.024 0.01 0.08 0.08 0.0048
Stainless Steel Type 304 0.050 0.40 1.10 0.000 0.000 18.10 8.05 0.045 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.002 0.000
Table 2. Thermo-physical properties of carbon steel and stainless steel
S20 AISI304 Unit
Liquidus temperature, T
L
1513.2 1461.0
o
C
Solidus temperature, T
S
1446.1 1400.0
o
C
Superheat, T 20 30
o
C
Specific heat in mushy zone, C
P
700 750 Jkg
-1
K
-1
Latent heat, L 274950 26800 Jkg
-1
Thermal conductivity of liquid steels,
L
78.111 12-15(293K) Wm
-1
K
-1
Thermal conductivity in mushy zone,
m
39.955 Wm
-1
K
-1
Density of liquid multi-component steels,
L
7200 7880 kgm
-3
Table 3. Equilibrium partition coefficients of various solute elements
[9]
Element C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Cu Mo N
k
0
/L
k
0
/L
0.19 0.77 0.76 0.23 0.05 0.95 0.83 0.53 0.80 0.25
0.34 0.52 0.78 0.13 0.035 0.86 0.95 0.88 0.585 0.48
Table 4. Liquid slopes for carbon steels and stainless steel
[10]
Solute
S20 AISI304
m
L
(
o
C/%) m
L/o
m
L/
C -78 -96 -55
Si -7.6 -11 -11
Mn -4.9 -4.0 -5.1
P -34.4 -37 -28
S -38.0 -44 -32
Cr -1.04 -3.755+0.188C
Cr
+0.020C
Ni
-3.328-0.047C
Cr
+0.097C
Ni
Ni -4.69 -4.792+0.020C
Cr
-0.060C
Ni
-1.440+0.097C
Cr
-0.112C
Ni
Cu -8.9 -3.6
Mo -2.2 -5.3
N -60.0
The diffusion coefficients for typical solutes in liquid, ferritic, and austenitic iron-based alloys
are presented in Table 5
[10]
. Most of the data are based on the measurements of binary Fe-X alloys
[10]
.
The data are expressed in the conventional form of the Arrhenius equation:
D
o
i
=D
0o
i
exp(-Q
o
i
/ R
g
T) (6)
Table 5. Diffusion constants D
0o
i
and activation energies Q
o
i
for solutes in liquid, ferritic, and austenitic iron-
based alloys
[10]
Solute
Liquid Ferritic Austenitic
D
0L
i
(cm
2
/s) Q
L
i
(J/mol) D
0F
i
(cm
2
/s) Q
F
i
(J/mol) D
0A
i
(cm
2
/s) Q
A
i
(J/mol)
C 7.6710
-2
106000 0.013 81400 0.076 134600
Si 5.1010
-4
38300 8.000 248900 0.300 251400
Mn 4.6010
-3
70300 0.760 224000 0.486 276100
P 1.3410
-2
99200 2.900 230100 0.010 182800
S 4.3310
-4
35600 4.560 214600 2.400 223400
Cr 2.5110
-3
66900 2.400 239800 0.0012 219000
Ni 1.3510
-2
89200 1.600 240000 0.340 282400
Cu 5.3010
-5
2.600 240000 0.700 286000
Mo 5.8210
-4
41800 3.470 241400 0.068 246900
N 9.7610
-3
72800 0.008 79100 0.910 168500
For carbon steel, the Gibbs-Thomson coefficient I is 1.910
-7
Km
[11]
; for AISI 300-series
stainless steels, the Gibbs-Thomson coefficient I for ferritic I
F/L
and austenitic phase I
A/L
have values
of around 2.810
-7
and 3.410
-7
mK
[10]
respectively. Some assumptions should be adopted for the
current calculation, which are the same as the former paper
[12]
.
Figure 5 shows the method for the calculation of dendrite growth in the current model.
Figure 5 Flow chart for calculation
Results and Discussions
Comparisons of Microstructure Parameters for Medium Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel
Figures 6 and 7 show the variations among the dendrite tip radius, dendrite growth rate,
secondary dendrite arm spacing, temperature gradient, cooling rate and solid shell growth for both
medium carbon steel and stainless steel. Dendrite tip radius and secondary dendrite arm spacing
increase with the increasing of the distance from surface to center of the shell, while the growth rate,
temperature gradient and cooling rate decrease with the increasing of the distance from surface to
center of the shell. The fluctuation of these parameters contributed to the variation of the casting speed.
The values of the stainless steel were all smaller than those of medium carbon steel. Thats because
type304 stainless steel contains less C and more Cr and Ni, and there exist the phase transition during
solidification. The diffusion of austenitic phase was very slow, postponing the dendrite growth rate and
increasing the dendrite tip radius. The variations of the temperature gradient and the cooling rate, seen
from Fig.7, were larger in the mold than in the secondary cooling zone due to the greater heat transfer
intension in the mold.

Figure 6 Variation of dendrite growth rate, dendrite tip radius and secondary dendrite arm spacing with shell thickness for
both medium carbon steel and stainless steel

Figure 7 Variation of temperature gradient and cooling rate with shell thickness for both medium carbon steel and
stainless steel
Comparisons of Micro-segregation for Medium Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel
Figures 8 and 9 show the comparisons of C, P, S microsegregation with the variation of
dendrite growth rate for medium carbon steel and stainless steel. The numerical values of stainless
steel were larger than those of carbon steel. The microsegregation for stainless steel was more serious.
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
6.0
Growth rate, mm/s
C
L
*
/
C
0
C
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
5.7
5.8
5.9
6.0
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
Growth rate, mm/s
C
L
*
/
C
0
C
(a) Medium carbon steel (b) Stainless steel
Figure 8 Variation of C micro-segregation with the dendrite growth rate for both medium carbon steel and stainless steel
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
4
5
6
7
22
24
26
28
30
Growth rate, mm/s
C
L
*
/
C
0
P
S
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
7
8
9
10
11
24
26
28
30
32
34
Growth rate, mm/s
C
L
*
/
C
0
P
S
(a) Medium carbon steel (b) Stainless steel
Figure 9 Variation of P and S micro-segregation with the dendrite growth rate for both medium carbon steel and stainless
steel
Parametric Studies
Effect of
*
on Dendrite Tip Radius and Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacings
The establishment of dendrite growth model was based on the solute transfer and dendrite tip
stability. The parameter
*
was first introduced by Langer and Mller-krumbhaar
[4, 13]
. They proposed
that the dendrite tip selected the largest stable radius value and referred to this dendrite tip selection
process as the marginal stability criterion. This marginal stability criterion shows that
*
is a numerical
constant whose value was 1/(4
2
). For different systems,
*
took different values
[14]
. There was no
evidence to show the accurate value of
*
for steels continuous casting process. For current calculation,
the value of 1/(4
2
)=0.025 was used, but different stability coefficient
*
were used in order to validate
and study its effects on some micro-structural parameters. Figure 10 and 11 show the effects of
*
on
dendrite tip radius and secondary arm spacing with shell growth for both medium carbon steel and
stainless steel. The larger this value is, the smaller the dendrite tip radius and secondary dendrite arm
spacing are for both these two kinds of steel grades, but the values of stainless steel are smaller than
those of carbon steel. The high value of stability coefficient
*
is attributed to the higher anisotropy in
the system. For a continuous casting system, the anisotropy of crystals in micro-scale exists
everywhere, and the higher value of
*
shows more reasonable. There should be further studies for the
analysis of
*
.
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
5
10
15
20
D
e
n
d
r
i
t
e

r
a
d
i
u
s
,

u
m
Distance from the surface, mm
Stainless Steel, o*= 0.025
Stainless Steel, o*= 0.05
Medium Carbon Steel, o*= 0.025
Medium Carbon Steel, o*= 0.05
Figure 10 Effect of
*
on the dependency of dendrite radius on shell thickness
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
200
400
600
800
1000
S
e
c
o
n
d
a
r
y

a
r
m

s
p
a
c
i
n
g
,

u
m
o*= 0.025
o*= 0.01
o*= 0.05
Distance from the surface, mm
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
o*= 0.025
o*= 0.01
o*= 0.05
S
e
c
o
n
d
a
r
y

a
r
m

s
p
a
c
i
n
g
,

u
m
Distance from the surface, mm
(a) Medium carbon steel (b) Stainless steel
Figure 11 Effect of
*
on the dependency of secondary dendrite arm spacing on shell thickness
Effect of Casting Speed on Dendrite Tip Radius and Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacings
Studies on micro-structural parameters should be based on the actual solidification conditions
during steel continuous casting. Effects of different casting speed V
c
0.8m/min and 1.0m/min on these
parameters were investigated under 20
o
C superheat. The dependence of dendrite tip radius and the
secondary dendrite arm spacing on the casting speed for both medium carbon steel and stainless steel
are shown in Figure 12 and 13. Both dendrite tip radius and secondary dendrite arm spacing increase
with increasing casting speed from the surface to center of the solid shell. An increase of the casting
speed promotes larger spacing due to its lower residence time of the strand in the spray cooling zone.
This behavior of interdendritic spacing is more evident in the center of the slab. Increase in casting
speed leads to a coarser interdendritic spacing.
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
5
10
15
20
Distance from the surface, mm
D
e
n
d
r
i
t
e

r
a
d
i
u
s
,

u
m
Stainless Steel, V
c
=1.0 m/min
Stainless Steel, V
c
=0.8 m/min
Medium Carbon Steel, V
c
=1.0 m/min
Medium Carbon Steel, V
c
=0.8 m/min
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
5
10
15
200
400
600
800
Distance from the surface, mm
S
e
c
o
n
d
a
r
y

d
e
n
d
r
i
t
e

a
r
m

s
p
a
c
i
n
g
,

u
m Stainless Steel, V
c
=1.0 m/min
Stainless Steel, V
c
=0.8 m/min
Medium Carbon Steel, V
c
=1.0 m/min
Medium Carbon Steel, V
c
=0.8 m/min

Figure 12 Effect of casting speed on the dependency of

dendrite radius on shell thickness
Figure 13 Effect of casting speed on the dependency of
secondary dendrite arm spacing on shell thickness
Conclusions
- A simplified numerical mathematical method was developed to analyze the important micro-
structural parameters during continuous casting solidification for both medium carbon steel and
stainless steel. For these two kinds of steel grades, the dendrite tip radius and secondary dendrite arm
spacing increase with the distance from surface to center, while dendrite growth velocity, temperature
gradient and cooling rate were decreasing.
- The larger the stability coefficient value is, the smaller the dendrite tip radius and secondary
dendrite arm spacing are for both these two kinds of steel grades. The higher value of
*
shows more
reasonable in continuous casting system due to the anisotropy of crystals in micro-scale everywhere.
- Both dendrite tip radius and secondary dendrite arm spacing increase with increasing casting
speed from the surface to center of the solid shell. An increase of the casting speed promotes a coarser
interdendritic spacing due to its lower residence time of the strand in the spray cooling zone.
- The values in the calculation results for stainless steel were smaller than those for carbon steel
except the microsegregation due to the special solidification characteristic of the stainless steel. The
microsegregation for stainless steel was more serious.
References
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