• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1105-1113
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• 2003

In the gas wiping process of continuous hot-dip galvanizing, edge overcoating develops near the edge of the steel strip. The overcoating is supposed to occur due to the reduced impact pressure of wiping gas on the strip surface. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of edge vortex on the reduced impact pressure. Three-dimensional unsteady flows are simulated using a commercial code, STAR-CD. Standard k-$\varepsilon$ model is used as a turbulence model. It is found that an alternating vortex structure in the vicinity of strip edge is developed by buckling of opposed jet streams and that the reduced amount of impact pressure at strip edge becomes smaller as the air knife gets closer to the strip. The effect of edge baffle on the reduced impact pressure is also investigated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.763-770
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• 2004

The problem of edge overcoating developed near the edge of the steel strip is studied quantitatively in the gas wiping process of continuous hot-dip galvanizing. It has been assumed that the edge overcoating occurs due to the reduced impact pressure of wiping gas on the strip edge and it is one of detrimental problems to the quality of coating products. In order to analyse the edge overcoating problem numerically, three-dimensional unsteady flows due to the gas wiping are calculated by using a commercial code, STAR-CD. Standard $\kappa$-$\varepsilon$ model is used as a turbulence model. The 1D code for calculation of coating thickness is constructed by using continuity and Navier-Stokes equations. The calculation results have shown good agreement with measurements of edge overcoating thickness, taken from galvanizing line trials. Therefore it is conformed that the major cause of edge overcoating is the reduced impact pressure of wiping gas on the strip surface.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1156-1162
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• 2005

In this study, a noble method is proposed to prevent the edge overcoating (EOC) that may develop near the edge of the steel strip in the gas wiping process of continuous hot-dip galvanizing. In our past study (Trans. of the KSME (B), Vol. 27, No. 8, pp. $1105\~1113$), it was found that EOC is caused by the alternating vortices which are generated by the collision of two opposed jets in the region outside the steel strip. When the two opposed jets collide at an angle much less than $180^{o}$, non-alternating stable vortices are established symmetrically outside the steel strip, which lead to nearly uniform pressure on the strip surface. In order to deflect both jets downward by a certain angle, a cylinder with small diameter is installed tangentially to the exit of the lower lip of the two-dimensional jet. In order to find an optimum cylinder diameter, the three dimensional flow field is analysed numerically by using the commercial code, STAR-CD. And the coating thickness is calculated by using an integral analysis method to solve the boundary layer momentum equation. In order to compare the present noble method with the conventional baffle plate method to prevent the EOC, the flow field with a baffle plate is also calculated. The calculation results show that the tangentially installed cylinder at the bottom lip of the jet exit is more effective than the baffle plate to prevent EOC.