PROMETHEREF : a French research program for the study of thermomechanical properties of industrial refractories
Résumé
In October 2002 started in France a research program for improving the knowledge of thermal and mechanical properties of industrial refractories, involving three industrial partners and five public research laboratories. This project is funded by the French Ministry of Industry in the frame of the national research net "Materials and Processes". Generic materials, representative of two types of materials, are concerned: fused-cast refractories and refractory castables, respectively produced by Saint-Gobain-SEPR and TRB companies. The final aim of this three and half-year duration program is to provide data and models that can be used in finite elements calculations, for the design and the working simulation of industrial systems. The first results demonstrate the major effects during heating of the phase transformation of zirconia and hydrates dehydration and recrystallization on the respective mechanical properties of fused-cast materials and concrete.