A continuum model is adopted to study the macrosegregation phenomena during solidification of large steel ingots. Evolution of temperature, melt velocity, and compositional concentration field during a 22 t steel ingot solidification are illustrated by using the finite volume method. Numerical results of temperature distribution are validated by experiments. The influence of local permeability relates to the friction that the melt experienced in mushy region is investigated. It is shown that the continuum model is able to predict the temperature field, and the variation of permeability obviously affects the melt flowing behavior and the final compositional distribution. © 2011 Shanghai Jiaotong University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.