Investigation the effect of sintering temperature on Young’s modulus evaluation and thermal shock behavior of a cordierite–mullite based composite

A marked mismatch between CTE of cordierite and mullite in composition develops internal stress, which causes significant growth of cracks and subsequent damages which confer them a very good ability to thermal shock resistance. To investigate the effect of sintering temperature on the thermal shock resistance, the samples sintered at four different temperatures and evaluation of Young’s modulus monitored during 25 shock cycles. The results showed that densification behavior, thermomechanical properties and thermal shock resistance of this refractory was closely related to sintering temperature. Furthermore, during specific (5th to 10th) thermal-shock cycles a notable increase occurs in the Young’s modulus of the samples, this attributed to the formation of viscose bridges, which shield the tip of growing cracks.