Effect of Submerged Entry Nozzle Shape on Slag Entrainment Behavior in a Wide-Slab Continuous Casting Mold

Slag entrainment within the mold is a significant cause of surface defects in continuously cast slabs. As a key component for controlling molten steel flow, the structure of the submerged entry nozzle directly influences the flow field characteristics and slag entrainment behavior within the mold. This paper employs a 1:4-scale water-oil physical model combined with numerical simulation to investigate the effects of elliptical and circular submerged entry nozzles on slag entrainment behavior in a wide slab mold under different casting speeds and immersion depths. High-speed cameras were used to visualize meniscus fluctuations and oil droplet entrainment processes. An alternating control variable method was employed to quantitatively delineate a slag-free "safe zone" and a "slag entrainment zone" where oil droplets fall, determining the critical casting speed and critical immersion depth under different operating conditions. The results show that, given the nozzle immersion depth and slag viscosity, the maximum permissible casting speed range without slag entrainment can be obtained, providing a reference for industrial production parameter control. The root mean square (RMS) of surface fluctuations was introduced to characterize the activity of the meniscus flow. It was found that the RMS value decreases with increasing nozzle immersion depth and increases with increasing casting speed, showing a good correlation with the frequency of slag entrainment. Numerical simulation results show that compared with elliptical nozzles, circular nozzles form a more symmetrical flow field structure in the upper recirculation zone, with a left-right vortex center deviation of less than 5%, resulting in higher flow stability near the meniscus and thus reducing the risk of slag entrainment.