Thermal shock damage evaluation of refractory castables via hot elastic modulus measurements

When refractory castables are submitted to continuous thermal changes, crack nucleation and/or propagation can take place resulting in a loss of mechanical strength and overall degradation of such materials. This work evaluates the thermal shock damage cycling of high-alumina and mullite refractory castables designed for petrochemical application. Hot elastic modulus analyses were carried out after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 thermal cycles (ΔT=800 °C) in order to investigate the microcracking evolution due to the temperature changes. Additionally, apparent porosity, hot modulus of rupture, erosion and work of fracture measurements were also performed. According to the attained results, it was detected at which temperature range the stiffening or embrittlement took place in the mullite-based refractory (M-SA) microstructure. Nevertheless, the damage induced by the thermal shock tests was not permanent, as further increase of the elastic modulus results was observed for all evaluated samples after annealing. On the other hand, the alumina-based composition containing a sintering additive (TA-SA) presented enhanced mechanical strength, high thermal stability and E values. Simulations indicated that refractories with high E values (∼140 GPa, such as those attained for alumina-based castable) showed a reduced amount of stored elastic strain energy even under severe thermal stresses, which seems to be a key aspect for the engineered design of thermal shock resistance materials.