Computer modeling of distribution of dispersed particles by the cross-section of cylindrical dispersion-strengthened metal materials

The article presents the process of creating a computer model for predicting the distribution of particles during centrifugal casting using the ANSYS FLUENT 16.0 software module. To predict the distribution of particles by volume in the world at the moment there are several mathematical models. Most of them are based on the steady state assumption: models describing the criteria for dropping particles by a growing crystallization front and models calculating critical particle absorption rates by growing dendritic crystals. Some models attempt to describe the dynamic state of the system or to determine the criterion for capturing non-metallic inclusions by the solidification front during centrifugal casting of metal. The process of creating the new model, its scheme and geometry are described. Its preprocessor takes into account such phenomena as two-phase flow, energy equation, lamellar flow, introduction of discrete phases (strengthening particles), melting/crystallization. The model considers account of interaction of two liquid phases: air and steel melt; interfacial interaction is described by the equation of surface tension. As the materials used, the authors used steel grade 12Kh18N10T as the base metal, carbides of tungsten, boron and yttrium oxide as input particles. During simulation, the physicochemical parameters of these substances were taken into account. The process of modeling the distribution of particles during centrifugal casting using the Skif-Ural computing cluster, included in the TOP-500 of the world’s most powerful computers, is presented. As a result of the simulation, in addition to graphical display, data arrays were obtained that describe the coordinates of each particle at each moment in time in increments of 0.00001 seconds, which allows us to predict the exact location of each particle at each moment of casting. The results of the work indicate that centrifugal casting technology with the introduction of dispersed particles during the casting process allows obtaining dispersion-strengthened metal materials with predicting the distribution of refractory particles.

computer modeling, ANSYS, centrifugal casting, tungsten carbide, boron carbide, yttrium oxide, hardened materials

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