The tundish furniture plays a significant role in influencing the flow pattern in the vessel, providing the necessary conditions for clean steel production. The impact pot dissipates the entry jet kinetic energy and directs the flow to the surface, enhancing the molten steel residence time, mixing efficiency and inclusion flotation in the tundish. Moreover, weirs and dams also increase the average flow path towards the strands, further improving the operational conditions for higher quality

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... irements. Nevertheless, in order to obtain the maximum benefit of steel cleanliness, it is essential that their design is optimum for the specific tundish in consideration. In this study, the application of numerical optimization tools in the design of tundish refractories is presented. The optimizations are based on the results of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) numerical simulations. First, an optimization study of an impact pot design is shown. The impact pot shape is optimized aiming for multiple objectives, being: minimum value of turbulent energy at the slag, minimum value of wall shear stresses at the lining and maximum value of steel residence time. Then, the optimization of the positioning and design of the weir and dam is performed, with the single goal of maximum value for the steel residence time. The results of the optimization studies show that this is a valuable tool to provide better tundish refractory solutions to support clean steel production.