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Numerical Simulation of Solidification of Work Roll in Centrifugal Casting

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Article  in  Journal of Materials Science and Technology -Shenyang- · February 2012

DOI: 10.1016/S1005-0302(12)60035-8

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 J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.

Numerical Simulation of Solidification of Work Roll

in Centrifugal Casting Process

Nannan Song1) , Yikun Luan1) , Yunlong Bai1) , Z.A. Xu2) , Xiuhong Kang1)† and Dianzhong Li1)
1) Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Shenyang 110016, China
2) SIRRIS, the Collective Center for the Belgian Technological Industry, Technologiepark 915, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium
[Manuscript received April 1, 2011, in revised form August 11, 2011]

A program on the solidification process of horizontal centrifugal casting coupled with eutectic carbides segregation has
been developed in this paper. Due to the geometrical features of work roll, a cylindrical coordinate system was used.
The temperature field of the outer layer at the end of filling process was imported as the initial temperature condition
for the solidification process. The model of eutectic carbides segregation caused by different densities between eutectic
MC and the molten steel was coupled in the program. The temperature field of the outer layer of work roll during
horizontal centrifugal casting process was investigated. Results show that the outer layer has a “sandwich shape” solid
fraction manner. Results also indicate that the segregation of eutectic MC is quite severe during centrifugal casting
process. It forms four zones of different content of carbides in radial direction. The simulated results of MC carbides
segregation phenomenon agree with the experimental observations.

KEY WORDS: Numerical simulation; Horizontal centrifugal casting; MC segregation;

Work roll

1. Introduction the design of the casting process. Computer simula-

Centrifugal casting is a widely used method for
producing eutectic carbides reinforced metal matrix
composites, tubes and some of work rolls[1–5] . Using
centrifugal casting to produce work roll is very compli-
cated. Three different kinds of materials are needed
to pour into the mould. Two of them are poured
under horizontal centrifugal casting process, and the
last one is filled under gravity. The process parame-
ters are very difficult to be controlled, especially to
decide when to pour the intermediate layer and when
to start inner core filling. Fu and Liu[6] argued that
it is better to pour the intermediate layer at the time
when the temperature of 85% thickness of the outer
layer is 10 ◦ C under the solidus, and then allow 15%
of the outer layer to be re-melted. But to determine
the time interval between each step is very difficult.
Thereby, the temperature distribution and solid frac-
tion of each layer are very important and crucial for
† Corresponding author. Assoc. Prof., Ph.D.; E-mail address:
xhkang@imr.ac.cn (X.H. Kang).
tion, a powerful tool for the scientists and technolo-
gists to visualize the casting process, is a key to obtain
the temperature field and solidification process[7] .
In centrifugal casting process, the liquid metal so-
lidifies under centrifugal force. If the liquid contains
some eutectic carbides, whose densities are different
from the molten steel, the eutectic carbides will seg-
regate during solidification process under centrifugal
force. In some techniques, this kind of segregation
is used during centrifugal casting as an advantage to
produce certain products, such as produce particle re-
inforced metal matrix composites[1,2] . For producing
work roll via horizontal centrifugal casting, the eutec-
tic carbides segregation phenomenon is unexpected,
which should be prevented from occurring.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the solid-
ification manner of work roll during horizontal cen-
trifugal casting process and to acquire a suitable fill-
ing time interval between pouring intermediate layer
and outer layer for the studied dimension of work roll.
Eutectic carbides segregation during solidification
148 N.N. Song et al.: J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of the complete system of horizontal centrifugal casting of the outer layer

process was also studied. A suggestion was proposed ρ = [1 − Vk (t)]ρl + ρec · Vk (t) (5)
here to solve this problem.
C = [1 − Vk (t)]Cl + Cec · Vk (t) (6)
2. Description of the Models λ = [1 − Vk (t)]λl + λec · Vk (t) (7)
Eutectic carbides, whose densities are smaller than
2.1 Mathematical models
the molten steel, will move to the inside of the layer
owing to the centrifugal force. This will cause the
For horizontal centrifugal casting of work roll, it
volume fraction of the eutectic carbides in the molten
is very complex to simulate the temperature field in
steel to change at different places as can be seen from
Cartesian coordinates system. In this study, the tem-
the following equation.
perature distribution in the melt and mold will be
described by the energy equation under three dimen- Vk (1 + ∆t) = Vk (t) + ∆Vk+1 (t) − ∆Vk (t) (8)
sional cylindrical coordinates system.
µ ¶ µ ¶ where ∆Vk+1 (t) are the eutectic carbides which move
∂T 1 ∂ ∂T 1 ∂ ∂T
ρC = λ·r + 2 λ + into the k cell at t time and ∆Vk (t) are the eutectic
∂t r ∂r ∂r r ∂ϕ ∂ϕ
µ ¶ carbides which move out from the k cell at t time.
∂ ∂T .
λ +q (1) 2.2 Geometric model
∂z ∂z
Considering that the flow of heat is almost in the
The thickness of the outer layer of the roll simu-
radial direction, as well as the symmetrical section of
lated here is 53 mm. In the circumferential direction,
the roll[8] , the following explicit finite difference equa-
there is no heat transfer among each grid at the same
tion for an internal node (i, k) is obtained.
radial position. So the model is axisymmetric. Two-
n+1 n ∆t 1 0 (Ti+1 − Ti ) dimensional cylindrical coordinate model is used to
T(i,k) = T(i,k) + {[ (Ri+1 · λ1 −
ρC r[i] ∆r2 do the simulation. Fig. 1 is the schematic of the com-
plete system of horizontal centrifugal casting of the
(Ti − Ti−1 )
Ri0 · λ2 )] + outer layer. It can be seen from Fig. 1 that coating
∆r2 and protect slag are also considered in the model.
(Tk+1 − Tk ) (Tk − Tk−1 )
[λ3 − λ4 ]} (2)
∆k 2 ∆k 2 3. Boundary and Initial Conditions
Due to the employment of explicit finite difference
method to solve the heat transfer equation, the con- 3.1 Boundary conditions
vergence condition is very important. It is given in
the following formula[9] : Fig. 1 shows that the inner surface of the cast-
2 ing is covered by glass slag, which is used to protect
ρC(∆r)
∆t ≤ (3) the liquid metal from oxidation. Rotated mold will
2λ lead to turbulent movement of the ambient air. The
During centrifugal casting, the centrifugal force higher the rotation speed is, the more intense the tur-
is very strong. If eutectic carbides whose densities bulence is. That leads to non-ignorable convection ef-
are different from the molten steel exist in the liquid fect between the inner air and the inner surface. The
metal, segregation will occur. This kind of segrega- thickness of the protect slag, which contacts the in-
tion will have influence on the temperature field of the ner surface, is only about 2 mm. Because of the high
metal. The segregated models are given as below[1] : temperature, heat transfer between the liquid metal
d2 s ds and the slag is quick. This makes the slag also has
ρec V = V ω 2 s (ρec − ρL ) − 6πµr (4) radiation effect on the inner air. So, the boundary
dt2 dt
 N.N. Song et al.: J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.
Fig. 2 Axial temperature field of the outer layer after different solidification time during centrifugal casting:
(a) 360 s after pouring, (b) 420 s after pouring
condition equation between protect slag and inner air
is shown as follows[10] :
∂T
4 4
−λ · = h · (Twl − Tsur1 ) + ε · σ · (Tw1 − Tsur1 ) (9)
∂x
The mold contacts the outer air, but sometimes
contacts cooling water. The mold is usually preheated
to nearly 170 ◦ C. This makes it has radiation effect
on the outer air. Because of the high rotation speed
of the mold, it also has convection effect on the outer
air. The boundary condition can be seen from the
following equation:
∂T 4 4
−λ · = h · (Tw2 − tsur2 ) + ε · σ · (Tw2 − Tsur2 ) (10)
∂x
Under some casting conditions, where there is no
forced air around the mold, the free convection is
laminar. But the high speed rotating mold makes
the ambient air turbulent during centrifugal casting.
So the convection heat transfer coefficient should not
be laminar any more. Here h is a function of the
rotation speed. It is calculated from the following
expression[11] :
λ During horizontal centrifugal casting of work roll,
h=Q [(0.5Re2 + Gr)P r]0.33 (11)
2r
3.2 Initial conditions
The material of the outer layer used is a type of
high speed steel containing high Mo and high V. Be-
cause of the lower density of the preferentially formed
149
of metallic carbides, which is considered to be VC
with density of 5700 kg/m3[12] and the density of the
molten steel is 7200 kg/m3 , MC segregation in the
steel under centrifugal force will occur. The initial
volume of MC eutectic carbides is set to be 5% ac-
cording to the alloy component. The thermal para-
meters of the material are obtained from experiments.
The liquidus of the high speed steel is 1320 ◦ C, and
the solidus is 1210 ◦ C[13] . Rotation speed of the mold,
preheated temperature of the mold and coating layer
thickness are considered in the simulation. Zircon
flour is used as coating material. Its thermal con-
ductivity is 8.37 W·m−1 ·K−1[9] . The other simulation
parameters can be seen in Table 1.
The temperature field of the outer layer at the end
of mould filling process in literature[14] is imported as
the initial temperature condition for the solidification
calculation of the outer layer.
4. Results and Discussion
4.1 Temperature field of the outer layer of work roll
when the outer layer is poured into the mold, it con-
tacts the mold quickly and tightly. The inner sur-
face of the layer contacts the 2 mm thick protect
slag. Fig. 2 shows the axial temperature field of the
outer layer after different solidification time. Fig. 2(a)
shows the temperature field at 360 s after pouring;
Fig. 2(b) shows the temperature field at 420 s after
150 N.N. Song et al.: J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.
Table 1 Thermomechanical properties of the high speed steel and simulation parameters
Parameter Value and dimension
Latent heat 1.05×106 J·kg−1
Thermal conductivity 22.9 W·m−1 ·K−1
Solid density of the steel 7.589×103 kg·m−3
Liquid density of the steel 7.0×103 kg·m−3
Inner casting radius 187 mm
Outer casting radius 240 mm
Fig. 3 Relation between temperature and solidification
time in different positions of the outer layer:
(a) the schematic positions of the monitored
points, (b) the temperature of the monitored
points
pouring. Both of them indicate that the surface con-
tacting the mold has lower temperature than the in-
ner surface contacting the protect slag. This means
that the slag not only protects the liquid from oxida-
tion but also prevents the temperature from dropping
sharply. From Fig. 2 it can also be seen that the tem-
perature of the shoulder is the lowest, which will cause
defects in the future.
The temperature fields of six different positions in
the outer layer are monitored. Fig. 3 shows the re-
lation between temperature and solidification time of
different positions of the outer layer under the same
initial conditions. Line 1 and line 2 stand for the po-
sitions with a distance of 8 mm away from the inner
surface: line 1 is in the middle part of the roll (posi-
tion 1); line 2 is at the shoulder of the roll (position
2). Line 3 and line 4 stand for the positions with a
distance of 23 mm away from the inner surface: line
3 is in the middle part of the roll (position 3), line
4 is at the shoulder of the roll (position 4). Line 5
and line 6 stand for the positions with a distance of
49 mm away from the inner surface: line 5 is in the
middle part of the roll (position 5), line 6 is at the
shoulder of the roll (position 6). From Fig. 3, it can
be seen that the places with a distance of 49 mm away
from the inner surface, which means with a distance
Parameter Value and dimension
Pouring temperature 1450 ◦ C
Mold preheated temperature 170 ◦ C
Thickness of the coating 2 mm
Thickness of the protect slag 2 mm
Rotation speed of the mold 680 r/min
of 4 mm away from the mold wall, cool quicker than
the other places both for the shoulder and the middle
part in the axial direction. They solidify nearly in
1 min. That is because these places contact the mold,
which has a very low temperature. The places with a
distance of 23 mm away from the inner surface, which
are in the middle part of the outer layer in radial di-
rection, solidify nearly in 7–8 min after pouring the
outer layer. The places with a distance of 8 mm away
from the inner surface, solidify nearly in 6–7 min after
pouring the outer layer. So it can be concluded that
to let the outer layer have a good re-melt condition
in the future, it is better to fill the intermediate layer
6–7 min after pouring the outer layer. At the same
radial position of the outer layer, the shoulder places
always have the lowest temperature.
4.2 Solid fraction of the outer layer of work roll
In order to know the solidification manner clearly,
it is better to use solid fraction field to do the illus-
tration. Fig. 4 shows the solid fraction of the outer
layer of work roll at different solidification time under
centrifugal casting. Fig. 4(a) shows solid fraction at
360 s after pouring; Fig. 4(b) shows solid fraction at
420 s after pouring. From Fig. 4 it can be seen that
the solidification type of work roll under centrifugal
casting is “sandwich shape”. This solidified manner
means that when pouring the intermediate layer into
the mold after 8 mm thickness of the inner surface of
the outer layer solidified, the middle part of the outer
layer in radial direction still has higher temperature
than the inner surface. If pouring speed of the inter-
mediate layer is higher than the critical velocity or
pouring time is earlier than the critical time interval,
it will cause defects and re-melt much more metals in
the outer layer. But if being controlled better, this so-
lidified manner of the outer layer can just satisfy the
sequence solidification after pouring the intermediate
layer. From Fig. 4, it can also be seen that the shoul-
der place is totally solidified at 360 s after pouring.
This place will be re-melted hardly.
4.3 Simulation results of MC eutectic carbides segre-
gation of the outer layer of work roll
Rotation speed plays an important role in the
filling process of centrifugal casting. For solidifica-
tion process, the rotation speed affects interface heat
transfer coefficient between liquid and the mold. Cen-
 N.N. Song et al.: J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.
Fig. 4 Solid fraction of the outer layer of work roll after different solidification time: (a) 360 s after pouring,
(b) 420 s after pouring
trifugal force also causes eutectic carbides to segregate
in liquid. Different rotation speeds will cause differ-
ent eutectic carbides segregation degrees of high speed
steel. Here, MC segregation is coupled with tempera-
ture drop. Fig. 5 shows the simulation results of MC
segregation phenomenon during solidification process.
The initial volume fraction of MC is set to be 5% ac-
cording to the elements content of the steel used here
as can be seen in Fig. 5(a). It can be seen in Fig. 5(b)
that after 75 s solidification, the MC moved into the
inner surface of the outer layer because of the lower
density[6] . From Fig. 5(c) it can be seen that there are
four typical MC zones in the radial direction from in-
ner surface to the outer surface: a zone with maximal
concentration, a transient zone, where the concentra-
tion increases from the initial to maximal, MC free
zone and a zone with the initial concentration. The
inner zone with maximal concentration, is caused by
the lower density of the segregation carbides. If car-
bides densities are higher than the molten steel, this
zone will be in the outer surface. In the developed
program, when the solid fraction of the grid is bigger
than the critical fraction, the volume of MC in that
grid is not able to be changed. The “sandwich shape”
solid manner causes the transient zone to be formed.
For the thin layer close to the mold surface, segrega-
tion is not obvious owing to the shock cooling of the
151
casting mold. This leads the MC free zone to be the
second zone from the outer surface.
4.4 Experimental results of MC segregation
To verify the model, experimental research has
been carried out. The same dimension work rolls as
the simulated one were produced. Fig. 6 shows the
roll produced in the factory for the experiment.
Fig. 7 shows that MC segregation under rotation
speed of 680 r/min. Because of the lower density of
MC, it runs into the inner position of the outer layer.
Owing to the segregation of the alloy elements, struc-
ture segregation can also be observed. This can be
seen from Fig. 7(b). It is investigated that MC are V-
rich carbides containing mostly V with small amounts
of Mo, Cr, and Fe[15] . Fig. 8 shows the segregation of
V element of the outer layer in radial direction mea-
sured by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). It can
be seen from Fig. 8 that the amount of V element in
the inner surface of the layer is bigger than that in
the outer surface of the layer. To solve this problem,
Nb element was recommended to be added into the
alloy. Nb element encourages forming (NbV)C car-
bides, which has similar density with molten steel and
this will decrease the tendency of carbides segregation
caused by centrifugal force[16] .
152 N.N. Song et al.: J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.

Fig. 5 Simulation results of MC carbides segregation phenomenon: (a) the initial volume of 5% MC carbides,
(b) the volume of MC carbides after 75 s, (c) the magnified figure of the circled place in (b)

Fig. 6 Roll produced in the factory for the experiment: (a) the rough casting after rough machining, (b) the outer
layer and intermediate layer cut from the casting
 N.N. Song et al.: J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28(2), 147–154.
Fig. 7 MC segregation of the outer layer of work roll: (a) the position of MC segregation in the three layers of
work roll unit (mm), (b) macrostructure of MC segregation in the outer layer
Fig. 8 Segregation of V element of the outer layer in ra-
dial direction measured by EPMA. V segregates
to the inner side of the outer layer under centrifu-
gal force because of the lower density
5. Conclusions
(1) The temperature field of the outer layer has
a “sandwich” shape model. Both the outer side and
the inner side have lower temperature. The place one
third of the thickness away from the inner surface is
the last solidified position. In order to gain a good re-
melt thickness of the outer layer, it is better to pour
the intermediate layer 6–7 min after pouring the outer
layer for this dimension roll.
(2) There are four regions formed in the radial
direction of work roll according to the segregation of
MC. The segregation of MC nearby the die wall is very
small owing to the quick solidification of this layer.
Eutectic carbides segregation has a great influence on
the carbides distribution and the performance of the
final product. Adding Nb element will decrease this
segregation phenomenon. The experimental results
verify the developed program and this program will
be further used for designing the parameters of the
other work roll.
153
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the financial support from
CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Cre-
ative Research Teams. And also thank Enquan Huo, se-
nior engineer in Tangshan XianLong Metallurgical Roll
Co., Ltd for experimental production instruction.
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Nomenclature

c, cl , cec Specific heat (J·kg−1 ·K−1 )

Gr Grashof number
h Convection heat transfer coefficient (W·m−2 ·K−1 )
Pr Prandtl number
Q Parameter of the casting unit
q̇ Internal heat generation (J·kg−1 )
Ri0 , Ri+1
0
The distance of the back and front of the grid from the (0, 0) (m)
r[i] The radius of the casting at i grid (m)
ri , r0 The inner and outer radius of the outer layer (m)
Re Reynolds number
r, z, φ The radial, axial and circle directions of work roll
s The position of the segregation element (m)
T, Twl , Tw2 , Rsur1 , Tsur2 Ttemperature (K)
t Time (s)
V Volume of the segregate eutectic carbides (m3 )
Vk Volume fraction of the eutectic carbides in k grid
ρ, ρl , ρec Density (kg·m−3 )
λ, λl , λec , λ1 , λ2 , λ3 , λ4 Thermal conductivity of casting (W·m−1 ·K−1 )
ε The emissivity
µ Viscosity (Pa·s)
σ Stefan-Boltzmann’s constant (5.67×10−8 W·m−2 ·K−4 )

where l and ec subscripts indicate the liquid and eutectic carbides, separately. ω1, ω2, sur1 and sur2 subscripts
indicate inner surface of the slag, outer surface of the mold, inner air of the roll and the outside mold air,
separately. The 1, 2, 3 and 4 subscripts stand for the four directions of one grid.

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