IMAGE ANALYSIS USED TO PREDICT THERMAL STABILITY OF REFRACTORIES

• Published in: American Ceramic Society bulletin Vol. 84; no. 10; pp. 9201 - 9204
• Main Authors: Volkov-Husovic, T, Jancic, R, Mitrakovic, D
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.10.2005
• ISSN: 0002-7812

The thermal shock behaviour of refractories can be determined experimentally using a simple water-quench test. Thermal quenching leads to crack nucleation and/or propagation, leading to a loss in strength. Because crack formation influences the ultrasonic velocity and Young's modulus of the material, measuring either of these properties can be used to monitor the evolution of thermal shock damage. A water-quench test was used to measure the thermal stability of alumina-based refractories. The damage level in samples during testing was measured using image analysis. Ultrasonic velocity measurements were used to calculate the dynamic modulus of elasticity and strength degradation during testing. The results show that surface degradation can be correlated with the number of quench experiments, with a high coefficient of correlation. This method can be used for lifetime prediction of specimens during thermal shock testing.