Three-dimensional heat transfer analysis in a funnel type mold for thin slab continuous casting

An innovative method has been developed for estimating the heat flux in a funnel type mold. Conjugate Gradient Method (CGM) was used to solve the Three-Dimensional Inverse transient Heat Conduction Problem (3D-IHCP). The model was validated by comparing the results with derived from a well-established 2D-IHCP. Besides, the effect of measurement noise on the reconstruction results were discussed. Subsequently, the method was implemented to determine the heat flux in a mold simulator experiment. The analysis revealed that the heat fluxes and temperatures calculated by 3D-IHCP exhibited a similar variation trend as those obtained from the 2D-IHCP. However, for locations in the transition region beneath the meniscus, the maximum heat flux calculated by 3D-IHCP (3.14 MW/m 2 ) was approximately 1.2 times greater than that calculated by 2D-IHCP (2.62 MW/m 2 ), attributable to the inclined wall and convex curvature characteristics of the funnel mold.