Abstract: A physical model of fluid flow in a 7-strand tundish was developed in laboratory and the influence of tundish configuration with different flow controllers on flow characteristics was investigated. The results showed that the flow characteristics are poor with the previously designed baffles by which the minimum residence time and peak time are both short, especially for the third and fourth strands. For all the strands their average residence time is short with their dead volume fractions higher than 49%. With the optimized tundish configuration, the flow characteristics of molten steel are greatly improved. Residence time distribution curves change from sharp/narrow form to short/wide one, and the minimum residence time of all the strands are measured to be 44.75 to 73.75 s with a mean residence time over 400 s, but the dead volume fraction markedly decreases to 14.45%~21.10%. As to the multi-strand tundishes, they should have suitable impacting zone volume, and the flow control function at both ends of tundish should be taken into account in the design of flow controllers.