CIVS Graduate Assistant Received Positive Feedback for the Thesis Defense
Vitalis Ebuka Anisiuba, a graduate student of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University Northwest, and a Research Assistant at CIVS defended his Masters’ thesis titled “Numerical Investigation of Air-Mist Spray Cooling and Solidification in the Secondary Zone during Continuous Casting” on November 29th, 2021.
In the study, a 3-D CFD model was used to simulate droplet formation, transport, and impingement heat transfer by an air-mist spray nozzle. Various casting conditions were investigated to determine their impact on slab cooling, and a correlation was developed to predict the average spray HTC at different casting conditions. In addition, a methodology for simulating solidification in the entire continuous caster was developed in order to predict shell growth, surface temperature, and metallurgical length. The findings of the studies have been published in three technical papers, with two more in the works.
Vitalis received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri in Nigeria. Prior to coming to the United States for his graduate studies, he worked as a Process Engineer in an oil refinery in Nigeria, which sparked his interest in fluid and thermal systems, and thus the desire to work with CFD tools arose. With the goal of becoming a professionally licensed Fluid and Thermal Engineer, he took the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam in Mechanical Engineering and received the title “Engineer in Training” in July 2021. After graduation, he will join INTEL Group in semiconductors, and is hoping to pursue a PhD in the future. Vitalis says that “Working at CIVS gave me a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to learn and grow, it aided in the development of my critical thinking and engineering judgment.”