{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,25]],"date-time":"2026-01-25T05:16:43Z","timestamp":1769318203111,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769126400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["52464043"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52464043"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["52264045"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52264045"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["52474410"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52474410"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Youth Science Foundation Project (Class A) of Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation","award":["2025JQ004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025JQ004"]}]},{"name":"Scientific Research Special Project for First-Class Disciplines in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region","award":["YLXKZX-NKD-010"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YLXKZX-NKD-010"]}]},{"name":"Scientific Research Special Project for First-Class Disciplines in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region","award":["YLXKZX-NKD-001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YLXKZX-NKD-001"]}]},{"name":"International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Higher Education Institutions in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region","award":["GHXM-002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GHXM-002"]}]},{"name":"Open project of the National Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Research and Comprehensive Utilization in Baiyun Obo","award":["NKDHX2025016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NKDHX2025016"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Slag entrainment within the mold is a significant cause of surface defects in continuously cast slabs. As a key component for controlling molten steel flow, the structure of the submerged entry nozzle directly influences the flow field characteristics and slag entrainment behavior within the mold. This paper employs a 1:4-scale water\u2013oil physical model combined with numerical simulation to investigate the effects of elliptical and circular submerged entry nozzles on slag entrainment behavior in a wide slab mold under different casting speeds and immersion depths. High-speed cameras were used to visualize meniscus fluctuations and oil droplet entrainment processes. An alternating control variable method was employed to quantitatively delineate a slag-free \u201csafe zone\u201d and a \u201cslag entrainment zone\u201d where oil droplets fall, determining the critical casting speed and critical immersion depth under different operating conditions. The results show that, given the nozzle immersion depth and slag viscosity, the maximum permissible casting speed range without slag entrainment can be obtained, providing a reference for industrial production parameter control. The root mean square (RMS) of surface fluctuations was introduced to characterize the activity of the meniscus flow. It was found that the RMS value decreases with increasing nozzle immersion depth and increases with increasing casting speed, showing a good correlation with the frequency of slag entrainment. Numerical simulation results show that compared with elliptical nozzles, circular nozzles form a more symmetrical flow field structure in the upper recirculation zone, with a left\u2013right vortex center deviation of less than 5%, resulting in higher flow stability near the meniscus and thus reducing the risk of slag entrainment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19030460","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T18:35:56Z","timestamp":1769193356000},"page":"460","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effect of Submerged Entry Nozzle Shape on Slag Entrainment Behavior in a Wide-Slab Continuous Casting Mold"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Guangzhen","family":"Zheng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Rare Earth Industry, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology (IMUST), Baotou 014010, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lei","family":"Ren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Rare Earth Industry, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology (IMUST), Baotou 014010, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3390-6218","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jichun","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Rare Earth Industry, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology (IMUST), Baotou 014010, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"31","article-title":"Experimental Research of Mold Powder Entrapment in Wide Slab Caster Mold","volume":"42","author":"Sun","year":"2007","journal-title":"Iron Steel"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1098","article-title":"Coupling Numerical Simulation of Flow Field, Temperature Field and Stress Field in a Wide-Thick Slab Continuous Casting Mold","volume":"38","author":"Huang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Chin. 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