• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.107-117
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• 2000

Prediction of the product shape in sheet casting process is performed from the numerical simulation. A three-dimensional finite element method is used to investigate the flow behavior and to examine the effects of processing conditions on the sheet produced. Effects of inertia, gravity, surface tension and non-Newtonian viscosity on the thickness profile of the sheet are considered since the edge bead and the flow patterns in the chill roll region have great influence on the quality of the products. In the numerical simulation with free surface flows, the spine method is adopted to update the free surface, and the force-free boundary condition is imposed along the take-up plane to avoid severe singularity problems existing at the take-up plane. From the numerical results of steady isothermal flows of a generalized Newtonian fluid, it is shown that the draw ratio plays a major role in predicting the shape of the final sheet produced and the surface tension has considerable effect on the bead thickness ratio and the bead width fraction, while shear-thinning and/or tension-thickening viscosity affect the degree of neck-in.