Multiscale finite element modeling of macrosegregation and grain transport

Overview & Synopsis

The present work aims at modeling macrosegregation of castings, accounting for the transport of equiaxed grains. A two-phase (solid and liquid) finite element solidification model is presented, consisting in solving a system of volume-averaged conservation equations of energy, momentum, solute, in which the multi-scale evolutions of phase and solute mass are modeled by using a splitting method. According to this approach, the variation of quantities is considered as due to the contribution of two stages: the growth stage and the transport stage. The numerical implementation was realized with three principal steps: first implementing growth processes, then integrating transport phenomena including the thermo-solutal liquid convection and the solid movement, lastly combing the growth and transport stages to achieve a complete growth-transport model. Of these steps, solving the transport equations with discontinuous and non-divergence-free velocity fields by using finite element method required an attentive investigation in order to overcome numerical issues while respecting for physical solutions. Parallel to these works, various two-dimensional simulation tests were carried out in each implementation step. Agreements were globally found between results obtained from the present model and those of reference from the literature. Finally, industrial applications and three-dimensional simulations were performed, which show that computational solutions can predict essential features of experimental measurements. In particular, a typical macrosegregation profile of steel ingots, containing a negative segregation in the lower zone and a positive segregation in the upper zone, which is predominantly characterized by crystals sedimentation and fluid circulation was retrieved. Moreover, a three-phase model considering two different liquid phases, extended from the above-mentioned two-phase model, which enables to describe the morphology of dendritic solid crystals was implemented.