The influence of the geometry of a three orifice nozzle on the flow field inside a beam blank mold

A single nozzle design with three lateral ports has been proposed to feed a beam blank mold. Techniques of physical modeling and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were applied to evaluate the fluid flow as a function of port angle, immersion depth and flow rate. The overall features of the flow field are not affected by changing the values of these parameters. The proposed design is characterized by: increasing fluctuation intensity at the meniscus and high impact velocities in certain regions of the broad face of the flanges. The oscillation intensity increases with decreasing immersion depth, increasing inclination of the exit ports, and increasing flow rates. These values vary also along the free surface of the mold, being larger on the flange opposite to the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) for all configurations. The impact velocities at the flange were affected only by the flow rate, reaching a maximum value of 0.45 m/s.