Thermo mechanic evolution of monolithics during heating-up – optimization of the sintering behaviour

Typically, monolithic refractory materials (“monolithics” or “castables”) are being mixed and installed on site into aggregates for thermal treatment, e.g. steel ladles. After installation (“lin- ing” or “relining”), the monolithic refractory materials are being dried and heated up, but often not up to the later service temperature. For instance, in steel ladles, the heating-up before the first tapping of liquid steel is usually stopped when a temperature of 1100 °C is attained, but the liquid steel displays temperatures up to 1750 °C. In this example, the first tapping of liquid steel into a relined ladle rises steeply the temperature of the monolithic refractory material from 1100 °C to 1750 °C at the hot face.