• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1265-1273
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• 1999

PIV(Particle Image Velocimetry) velocity field measurements inside the snout of a1/10 scale model of the Zn plating process were carried out at the strip speed $V_s=1.5m/s$. Aluminum powder particles ($1{\mu}m$) and atomized olive oil ($3{\mu}m$) were used as seeding particles to simulate the molten Zinc flow and deoxidization gas flow, respectively. A pulsed Nd:Yag laser and a $2K{\times}2K$ high-resolution CCD camera were synchronized for the PIV velocity field measurement. From flow visualization study, it is found that the liquid flow in the Zn pot is dominantly governed by the uprising flow caused by the rotating sink roll, with its effect on the steel strip inside the snout largely diminished by installing of the snout. The deoxidization gas flow in front of the strip inside the snout can be characterized by a large-scale vortex rotating clockwise direction formed by the moving strip. In the rear side of the strip, a counter-clockwise vortex is formed and some of the flow entrained by the moving strip impinges on the free surface of molten zinc. The liquid flow in front of the strip is governed by the flow entering the snout, caused by the spinning sink roll. Just below the free surface a counter-clockwise vortex is formed near the snout wall. The moving strip affects dominantly the flow behind the strip inside the snout, and large amount of the liquid flow follows the moving strip toward the sink roll. The thickness of the flow following the strip is very thin in the front side due to the uprising flow, however thick boundary layer is formed in the rear side of the strip. Its thickness is increased as moving downstream toward the sink roll. Inside the snout, the deoxidization gas flow above the free surface is much faster than the liquid flow in the zinc pot. Due to the larger influx of the flow following the moving strip in the rear side of the strip, higher percentage of imperfection can be anticipated on the rear surface of the strip.