Numerical analysis of shearing flow behavior in the melt of centrifugal casting using particle method

It is well known that a formation of band segregation in products manufactured by centrifugal casting process is strongly influenced by shearing flow behavior in lidquid-solid coexisting regions of metals. However, it is difficult to observe or measure what happens in the process because the preocess is carried out under high temperatures and the material is usually opaque. Therefore, we tried to observe the shearing flow behavior in the vicinity of solidification front in the centrifugal casting process by using flow and solidification simulations based on a particle method. We simulated flow and solidification behaviors in the process with growing solidification shells which rotate with the mold, and investigated the influence of rotating speed on the shearing flow behavior of the metal. As a result, the shearing flow behavior was well evaluated by spectral analysis of the velocity gradient around the solidification front. The shearing flow behavior is strongly influenced by the fluctuation of free surface and the apparent viscosity of fluid phase.