Numerical modeling of high-alumina refractory foams - elastic properties and thermal conductivity from tomographic images and digital proxies

Abstract

In this work, numerical modeling via the GeoDict® software package is used to predict the elastic properties (in particular Young’s modulus) and thermal conductivity of high-alumina refractory foams. Based on the phase composition determined via X-ray diffraction (mullite, corundum, glass phase, together with sillimanite or quartz and cristobalite) and the total porosity (determined from bulk density and true density to be in the range 71–76 %) digital proxies with random microstructure are generated and characterized via Minkowski-functional based descriptors (porosity, interface density, mean curvature integral density and total curvature integral density) and the effective elastic properties and thermal conductivity are calculated via the ConductoDict and ElastoDict module of the GeoDict^® software. Both the microstructural descriptors and the isotropic approximations of the resulting property tensors thus calculated for the digital proxies are compared to the corresponding results obtained with the results based on directly imported tomographic images and experimental data.