Graduate Student Seminar

How can process models improve steel production and quality? This talk will introduce the development, verification, calibration, validation and implementation of process models, and describe how tremendous advances in computing power have transformed computational modeling since its early beginnings in the 1970s. Examples from steelmaking will illustrate the application of fluid flow, chemical reactions, heat transfer and stress modeling to processes such as ladle refining, tundish metallurgy, continuous casting and hot rolling. Process models are used to design new processes; troubleshoot defects; improve product quality, scale-up and on-line control; and provide insights that cannot be obtained through plant measurements alone. Exciting new opportunities using emerging modeling tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence will be explored. Finally, the talk will conclude with a perspective on the future of process modeling and the important role that the next generation of engineers will play in shaping the steel industry. Dr. Brian G. Thomas is research professor and Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, and director of the Continuous Casting Center. He is also Gauthier Professor of Mechanical Engineering Emeritus and Research Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research efforts focus on computational modeling of continuous casting of steel and related processes. Thomas is a Distinguished Member and Fellow of AIST, Honorary Member of AIME, Fellow of ASM International, and Baosteel Honorary Professor. He has been recognized with the Presidential Young Investigator Award from NSF, the Xerox Award from UIUC, Distinguished Scientist and Application to Practice Awards from TMS, the Benjamin Fairless Award from AIST, the HPC Innovation Award, and more than 15 best paper awards (from AFS, AIME, ISS, AIST, TMS, CIM, ASM International and ASME). He has co-authored over 450 papers an