Effect of heat treatment temperature on microstructure and particle shedding of corundum-based refractory materials

Corundum based (Al2O3) refractory materials prepared by powder metallurgy superalloy powder were heat treated at 950-1350 degrees C for 60 min in order to study the effect of temperature on the microstructure and particle shedding of corundum - based refractory materials. The phase structure of the refractory materials before and after heat treatment was analyzed by XRD. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) was used to characterize the microstructure and phase composition of the refractory samples. In addition, the adhesion experiment was used to evaluate the particle shedding of the refractory materials after heat treatment at different temperatures, and explore the mechanism of pre-heating treatment reducing the possibility of particle shedding. Thermal shock test was used to evaluate the thermal shock resistance of refractory materials after heat treatment at different temperatures. The apparent porosity and bulk density were measured. The results show that with the increase of preheating temperature, the composition of calcium aluminate cement binder in refractories is gradually changed from CaAl2O4 (CA) to CaAl2O7 (CA(2)), and the fine ceramic particles in refractories are sintered together until the interconnected network structure is formed. With the increase of preheating temperature, the fine refractory particles in the refractory are gradually wet and spread on the large particles as aggregated and connected to form a network structure, and finally the large particles are coated. The particle adhesion of refractory gradually increases with the increase of heating temperature. The heat treatment has minor effect on the apparent porosity, bulk density and heat shock resistance of the refractory materials. However, with the increase of heating temperature, the local peeling degree of the refractory surface and mass loss rate in the thermal shock test are significantly improved. The particle shedding is obviously reduced whereas preheating for 60 min at 1150-1350 degrees C , and the relative suitable preheating temperature is in the range of 1250-1350 degrees C.