Deformation and Failure Behavior of Refractories for Blast Furnace at Elevated Temperature

Abstract

The complete stress-strain curve for brittle materials cannot be obtained with conventional testing machines because of their low stiffness and difficulties in strain-control. In this paper, the deformation and failure behavior of refractories for blast furnace under strain-controlled uniaxial compression with a stiff testing machine is discussed.
It is found that the refractories retain some strength and have still appreciable elasticity even after the maximum stress is reached. Fireclay brick shows anisotropy with regard to the stress-strain curve. It has a large deformability and superior resistance to the failure by thermal stress in parallel to the direction of press forming. Carbon brick fractures with a small deformation after the maximum stress. At the temperature above 800°C, fireclay brick exhibits visco-elastic behavior, which is substantially explained by the Burgers model.