Thermo-mechanically coupled modelling of cellular MgO-C refractories under thermal shock

Refractory materials such as magnesium oxide carbon (MgO-C) composites are used in the steel-making industry for furnaces, ladles or oxygen converters. A new class of composites are cellular MgO-C materials, consisting of carbon foams filled with magnesium oxide and inclusions of gas filled pores. Cellular MgO-C composites have the advantage of significantly improving the thermo-mechanical properties [1]. This contribution focuses on the FEM implementation of a fully coupled thermo-mechanical continuum model. It is based on the theory of porous media (TPM) restricted by a kinematic coupling of the displacement field of all constituents. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)