Numerical Simulation of Thermal Transport Associated With a Continuously Moving Flat Sheet in Materials Processing

The thermal transport that arises due to the continuous motion of a heated plate or sheet in manufacturing processes such as hot rolling, extrusion, continuous casting, and drawing is numerically investigated. The resulting temperature distribution in the solid is influenced by the associated flow in the ambient fluid, which is taken as stationary far from the moving surface, and is of particular interest in this work. A numerical study is carried out, assuming a two-dimensional, steady circumstance with laminar flow in the fluid. The full governing equations, including buoyancy effects, are solved, employing finite-difference techniques. The effect of various governing parameters, such as the Peclet number, Pe, the mixed convection parameter, Gr/Re², and the conductivity parameter, K_f/K_s, which determine the temperature and flow fields, is studied in detail. Also, the effect of the boundary conditions, particularly at the location of the emergence of the plate, on the downstream thermal transport is investigated. The penetration of the conductive effects, upstream of the point of emergence, is found to be significant. The effect of buoyancy is found to be more prominent when the plate is moving vertically upward than when it is moving horizontally. The appropriate boundary conditions and their imposition in the numerical scheme are discussed for a variety of practical circumstances.