DOI 10.

1007/s11148-019-00270-9
Refractories and Industrial Ceramics Vol. 59, No. 5, January, 2019

HEAT-INSULATING PROPERTIES OF HIGH-ALUMINA MATERIALS

FILAMENT-REINFORCED WITH GLASS FIBER OF THE Al2O3–SiO2 AND
Al2O3–SiO2–ZrO2 SYSTEMS

R. V. Zubashchenko1,2

Translated from Novye Ogneupory, No. 10, pp. 62 – 64, October 2018.

Original article submitted July 18, 2018.

Refractory heat-insulating materials produced in Russia are characterized. The thermal stability of high-alu-
mina heat-insulating materials filament-reinforced based on mullite-silica glass fiber is investigated. Thermal
stability data of products with crystallized and non-crystallized matrixes is presented.
Keywords: mullite-silica glass fiber, heat-insulating materials, refractories, thermal conductivity.

INTRODUCTION lightweight materials grades KT-1.1 and KT-1.3. However,

Currently, products based on mullite-silica glass fiber are
widely used as heat-insulating materials for lining various
thermal units. Such products combine high thermal insula-
tion properties and ease of use as they are often produced in
the form of mats, plates, piece goods, cardboard, etc. [1 – 3].
Products based on mullite-silica fiber have a higher heat
resistance compared with cellular ceramic materials of the
same apparent density. However, crystallization occurring in
glassy fibers during heating limits the maximum temperature
for using products based on them to 1150°C (to 1300°C for
products containing Cr2O3, and to 1425°C — for ZrO2).
Microcrystalline formations formed during heating cause a
sharp decrease in the strength of the fibers; they become brit-
tle and shrink. During operation at elevated temperatures,
this leads to the destruction of the heat-insulating layer and,
as a consequence, to undesirable heat losses [3, 4].
In the production of cellular ceramic insulation products,
the method of burnout additives and foaming is widely used
[3, 5]. The foam method provides low values of apparent
density and thermal conductivity of products, but their maxi-
mum application temperature is low (ShT-0.4 and ShTT-0.6
is 1150°C, and MKRT-0.8 — 1250°C). The more refractory
products are produced by the burnout additives method by
plastic molding (ShT-1.0, ShT-1.3). With the use of burnout
additives, it is also possible to obtain the most refractory
1 with the addition of lightweight aggregate. As a porous ag-
“PKF NK” JSC, Stary Oskol, Belgorod region, Russia.
2
zroman7777@mail.rua
these high-temperature products do not have high heat resis-
tance.
In addition, the semi-dry method of forming lightweight
products using porous filler, for example, aluminosilicate
microspheres, is being used [6]. The use of these micro-
spheres makes it possible to obtain lightweight material with
a fairly wide range of densities and maximum operating tem-
peratures, but the use of this method is limited due to the fact
that they are not readily available.
It is known that fibers can form highly porous composi-
tions in which the fibers are reinforced with an inorganic
bond, slightly reducing the porosity and thermal resistance of
the fibrous material. Composite materials with a ceramic alu-
minosilicate matrix based on mullite-silica-fiberglass were
investigated [7]. Glass fibers provide a high operating tem-
perature with low thermal conductivity and high heat resis-
tance. Products with Al2O3–SiO2–ZrO2 fibers were annealed
at 1300°C (Fig. 1a ), products of similar composition with
Al2O3–SiO2 fibers were annealed at 1500°C, which exceeds
the crystallization temperature of this glass fiber (Fig. 1b ).
The specified firing temperature provided the necessary de-
gree of sintering of the composite (see Table 1).
Porous material was molded by vibropressing. When
mixing, technology based on slip impregnation of the fiber
was used. The moldable mass consisted of randomly ar-
ranged fibers (of the Al2O3–SiO2 or Al2O3–SiO2–ZrO2 sys-
tem) strengthened with an inorganic binder (refractory clay)
gregate, a material was used based on non-ground technical

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Heat-Insulating Properties of High-Alumina Materials 553

Fig. 1. Microstructure and results of energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopic analysis of fiber-reinforced heat-insulating products based on
mullite-silicon-fibers of the Al2O3–SiO2–ZrO2 (a) and Al2O3–SiO2 (b) systems with a corundum porous aggregate.

alumina consisting of microporous aggregates (Fig. 2). The
choice of this type of aggregate was due to the fact that for
minimum thermal conductivity it is necessary to have not
only interconnected pores, but also a finely porous structure
[8]. As a result of this combination of components, the po-
rous structure of the investigated products can vary in a fairly
wide range.
The structure of such materials at the macro level can be
considered two-component (matrix — aggregate) and di-
vided into two groups depending on the degree of expansion
of the aggregate grains. In the first case, the aggregate grains
do not form contacts with each other. Material properties
with such a macrostructure are mainly determined by the
properties of the connecting matrix component. As the struc-
ture is saturated with aggregate grains, a skeleton is formed
glued together by a thin interlayer of the matrix component
(fiber reinforced with an inorganic binder). This structure is
favorable in terms of the shrinkage processes when exposed
to high temperatures, and the properties of the products
largely depend on the properties of the porous aggregate. De-
spite the crystallization of the fibers during firing, the prod-
ucts have a maximum operating temperature of up to
1550°C. It is obvious that the higher the firing temperature,
the lower the additional shrinkage of the products and, ac-
cordingly, the higher the operating temperature.
By varying the molding regime, the composition of the
product, the type of aggregate, and the sintering temperature,
one can achieve a significant change in the properties of such

TABLE 1. Physicochemical Properties of High-Temperature Heat-Insulating Products

Apparent Strength Heat resistance (1300°C – air), Firing
Products
density, g/cm3 at compression, MPa heat changes, until cracks appear temperature, °C
With Al2O3–SiO2–ZrO2 system fibers 1.35 4.2 20 – 22 1300
With Al2O3–SiO2 system fibers 1.35 6.5 15 – 17 1500
Corundum heat-insulating KT-1.3 1.3 3.5 1–3 1470
(GOST 5040–2015)
554
Fig. 2. Porous filler for the corundum composition of fiber-rein-
forced heat-insulating products.
a material. The Scheffé simplex-centroid design method of
experiment planning allows optimizing the product composi-
tion (in a three-component system: porous aggregate –
mullite-silicon-glass fiber – refractory clay) depending on
the specific operating conditions [9, 10].
The compressive strength of products with mullite-silica
fibers containing ZrO2 and not containing the specified oxide
was 4.2 and 6.5 MPa, respectively. This choice was due to
the technical requirements for the working layer of the lining
of many thermal units. The compositions providing these
properties were selected by a simplex-lattice method of plan-
ning an experiment (according to the diagrams of the de-
pendence of the apparent density and the compressive
strength of products on the composition). To determine the
heat resistance, products with an apparent density of
(1.35 ± 0.05) g/cm3 were used. The study was carried out
on cube-shaped samples with a (50 ± 2) mm edge in the
1300°C – air regime.
Fiber-reinforced heat-insulating products based on
mullite-silica fibers with corundum porous filler have high
heat resistance values (see Table 1). Thus, they can be used
instead of high-temperature KT-1.1 and KT-1.3 grade prod-
ucts (GOST 5040–2015).
The high heat resistance of these products can be ex-
plained by the theory of two stages of heat resistance, ac-
R. V. Zubashchenko
cording to which the destruction of a material under the in-
fluence of thermal stresses occurs in two stages: the nucle-
ation of cracks and their growth. Nascent cracks in heteroge-
neous materials develop slowly or may not develop at all.
Evidently, fiber reinforcement prevents the spread of germi-
nal cracks [2].
The high temperature resistance of fibrous materials is
associated with high tensile strength of the fibers [2, 3].
Products containing mullite-silica fiber containing ZrO2
stood out with their higher heat resistance due to the lack of
crystallization of the glass phase, which is accompanied by a
decrease in the strength of the fibers.
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