Dynamic Mechanics of Carbon Containing Alumina Refractories and the Effect of Carbon Resource and Cyclic Thermal Exposure

Abstract

Dynamic thermo-mechanical stresses caused by sudden temperature changes and molten steel impact, etc., accelerate the degradation of Al₂O₃-C refractories during service. To investigate the dynamic degradation behavior, dynamic mechanical tests were conducted using the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB), systematically examining the effects of partial substitution of flake graphite by expanded graphite and thermal degradation. The results show that the Al₂O₃-C refractories exhibit a significant strain-rate hardening effect, with strength increasing with impact velocity and the failure mode progressively transitioning from crack propagation to pulverization. Cyclic prolonged thermal exposure to 1500 °C contributes to the SiC whiskers formation and densification, and results in the increase strength and brittleness. The phenomenon of specimen after 5 cycles having the optimal impact resistance proves the both the strength and energy dominated failure process. The introduction of expanded graphite effectively suppresses crack propagation and enhances energy dissipation capacity through interlayer sliding and stress buffering related to the myrmekitic texture, which provides a rationale for the development of low-carbon materials.

Keywords

Al₂O₃-C refractories / Dynamic failure / Expand graphite / Strain rate hardening effect / Thermal effect

Acknowledgments

All authors gratefully acknowledge Guangzhao Bai and Wei Zhang for their great support of samples preparation, SHPB tests etc.

Statement of the Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used AI-based tools for the purpose of language polishing and grammatical correction. No other AI applications, including data analysis, interpretation, or generation of results, were employed.

Author Contributions

Z.W.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Literature review, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing. H.W.: Methodology, Literature review, Writing-review & editing. T.Z.: Writing-review & editing, Literature review. J.Y.: Supervision, Funding acquisition, Review & editing. S.J.: Funding acquisition, Review & editing. Y.L.: Supervision, Review & editing. Y.D.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing-review & editing

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Funding

The financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52472303), Wuhan Natural Science Foundation Exploration Program (No. 2025040601020146), and Hubei Provincial Special Fund for Central-Guided Local S&T Development (No. 2025CSA017) are appreciated. Supported by the Open Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Advanced Refractories, (Grant No. SKLAR26040YW).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

[1] Xu L, Bao H, Bao Z, Gao S, Chen M, Wang N. Microstructure, properties, and application of low carbon Al₂O₃-C refractories used as submerged entry nozzles. Int. J. Appl. Ceram. Technol. 2020, 17, 657-667. DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13388

[2] Zhang J, Liu Q, Yang S, Chen Z, Li J, Jiang Z. Advances in Ladle Shroud as a Functional Device in Tundish Metallurgy: A Review. ISIJ Int. 2019, 59, 1167-1177. DOI: 10.2355/isijinternational.ISIJINT-2019-044

[3] Xing L, Liu J, Bao Y, Wang M. Corrosion mechanism of Al₂O₃-C stopper rod by calcium treated molten steel. J. Mater. Res. Technol. 2025, 34, 924-931. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2024.12.132

[4] Song JW, Yan W, Chen Z, Liu Y, Hong SS. Effect of nano-carbon black content on wetting phenomenon of molten steel and alumina-carbon ceramic filter substrates. J. Iron Steel Res. Int. 2024, 31, 1900-1913. DOI: 10.1007/s42243-024-01193-7

[5] Lv J, Zhang H, Gu H, Liang F. A Review on the Application of Nanomaterials to Boost the Service Performances of Carbon-Containing Refractories. High-Temp. Mater. 2024, 1, 10005. DOI: 10.70322/htm.2024.10005

[6] Chen Z, Yan W, Schafföner S, Li Y, Li N. Microstructure and mechanical properties of lightweight Al₂O₃-C refractories using different carbon sources. J. Alloys Compd. 2021, 862, 158036. DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.158036

[7] Zhang T, Chen T, Liu Z, Yu C, Deng C, Ding J, et al. Enhancement and evaluation of strength stability of low-carbon Al₂O₃-C refractories based on ceramic phase distribution modulation. Ceram. Int. 2025, 51, 4946-4956. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.11.466

[8] Sarath Chandra K, Sarkar D. Structural properties of Al₂O₃-MgO-C refractory composites improved with YAG nanoparticle hybridized expandable graphite. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 2021, 803, 140502. DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2020.140502

[9] Liao N, Li Y, Jin S, Sang S, Harmuth H. Enhanced mechanical performance of Al₂O₃-C refractories with nano carbon black and in-situ formed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 2016, 36, 867-874. DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2015.10.003

[10] Wang Q, Li Y, Luo M, Sang S, Zhu T, Zhao L. Strengthening mechanism of graphene oxide nanosheets for Al₂O₃-C refractories. Ceram. Int. 2014, 40, 163-172. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2013.05.117

[11] Behera SK, Mishra B. Strengthening of Al₂O₃-C slide gate plate refractories with expanded graphite. Ceram. Int. 2015, 41, 4254-4259. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.11.092

[12] Wang Q, Li Y, Sang S, Jin S. Effect of the reactivity and porous structure of expanded graphite (EG) on microstructure and properties of Al₂O₃-C refractories. J. Alloys Compd. 2015, 645, 388-397. DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.05.124

[13] Liang X, Wang L, Liu Z, Li Z, Luo X, Wu F, et al. Thermal, flow and inclusions analysis of clogging mechanism in continuous casting process. Case Stud. Therm. Eng. 2025, 65, 105602. DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2024.105602

[14] Tian C, Zhi J, Gan F, Fan Z, Gao H, Yuan L, et al. Improving the erosion resistance of the submerged entry nozzle by applying an external electric field. Ceram. Int. 2023, 49, 4240-4251. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.09.308

[15] Fu Z, Dai Y, Xu X, Zhu T, Zhang W, Zhang J, et al. Dynamic failure of magnesia-carbon refractories under uniaxial compressive load. Ceram. Int. 2024, 50, 33703-33716. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.06.188

[16] Fu Z, Dai Y, Zhu T, Wang H, Xu X, Andreev K, et al. Dynamic splitting tensile mechanical behavior of magnesia-carbon refractories under impact loading. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 2025, 45, 116914. DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2024.116914

[17] Abdul-Rahman R, Saletti D, Forquin P. Experimental study of the static and dynamic behavior of pre-stressed concrete subjected to shear loading. Eng. Struct. 2021, 234, 111865. DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.111865

[18] Grigoriev AS, Zabolotskiy AV, Shilko EV, Dmitriev AI, Andreev K. Analysis of the Quasi-Static and Dynamic Fracture of the Silica Refractory Using the Mesoscale Discrete Element Modelling. Materials 2021, 14, 7376. DOI: 10.3390/ma14237376

[19] Sadowski T, Pietras D. Estimation of mechanical response of 2-phase oxide ceramic composites under high strain rate. Mater. Today Proc. 2021, 45, 4286-4291. DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.12.774

[20] Xu X, Jing H, Yin Q, Wu J, Guzev MA, Jin J. Dynamic Compressive Mechanical Properties of Rock-like Material with Bedding Planes Subject to Different Impact Loads. KSCE J. Civ. Eng. 2024, 28, 2409-2419. DOI: 10.1007/s12205-024-1145-x

[21] Hao Y, Hao H, Jiang GP, Zhou Y. Experimental confirmation of some factors influencing dynamic concrete compressive strengths in high-speed impact tests. Cem. Concr. Res. 2013, 52, 63-70. DOI: 10.1016/j.cemconres.2013.05.008

[22] Song Y, Ma H, Yang J, Zheng J, Yang J, Bao W. Dynamic Mechanical Behaviors and Failure Mechanism of Lignite under SHPB Compression Test. Sustainability 2022, 14, 10528. DOI: 10.3390/su141710528

[23] Zhe R, Zhou W. Study of dynamic mechanical properties of UHPC-AAC composites based on SHPB test. J. Build. Eng. 2023, 78, 107668. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2023.107668

[24] Yang Y, Li Q, Qiao L. Review of SHPB Dynamic Load Impact Test Characteristics and Energy Analysis Methods. Processes 2023, 11, 3029. DOI: 10.3390/pr11103029

[25] Lv TH, Chen XW, Chen G. Analysis on the waveform features of the split Hopkinson pressure bar tests of plain concrete specimen. Int. J. Impact Eng. 2017, 103, 107-123. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2017.01.004