Author(s)

ROK KOPUN, STEPHAN UCSNIK, DONGSHENG ZHANG, PETER SAMPL, STEPHAN JÄGER, REINHARD TATSCHL

Abstract

This paper outlines the recently improved Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model to simulate the jet impingement quenching cooling process, validated with experimental data. The main application area of the presented method is heat treatment of cast aluminium alloy parts, known as continuous horizontal chill casting process, mostly used in the automotive and aerospace industries, where accurate heat treatment prediction plays an important role in conceptual and thermal analysis. The comparison between measurement data and numerical results has been carried out to simulate the real time jet impingement cooling process of a high temperature aluminium plate using the commercial CFD code AVL FIRE™. Recently, simulation methodology has been applied to cast cooling processes, successfully demonstrating its ability to simulate cooling effects from 500°C down to room temperature in a realistic manner. The Eulerian multi-fluid modelling approach is used to handle the boiling flow and the heat transfer between the heated structure and the sub-cooled liquid. While for the fluid region governing equations are solved for each phase separately, only the energy equation is solved in the solid region. Heat transfer coefficients depend on the boiling regimes which are separated by the variable Leidenfrost temperature and the levitation force. Simulation results are compared with available measurement data on different positions along the aluminium plate. The temperature histories predicted by the presented model correlate very well with the provided measurement data at different monitoring locations.

Keywords

multiphase, CFD, continuous casting process, Leidenfrost temperature, levitation force