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Characterization of Time-Dependent Behavior of Ramming Paste Used in an Aluminum Electrolysis Cell

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Abstract

A new methodology was proposed for the characterization of time-dependent behavior of materials in order to develop a constitutive model. The material used for the characterization was ramming paste, a porous material used in an aluminum electrolysis cell, which is baked in place under varying loads induced by the thermal expansion of other components of the cell. In order to develop a constitutive model representing the paste mechanical behavior, it was necessary to get some insight into its behavior using samples which had been baked at different temperatures ranging from 200 to 1000 °C. Creep stages, effect of testing temperature on the creep, creep-recovery, as well as nonlinear creep were observed for designing a constitutive law. Uniaxial creep-recovery tests were carried out at two temperatures on the baked paste: ambient and higher. Results showed that the shape of creep curves was similar to a typical creep; recovery happened and the creep was shown to be nonlinear. Those experimental observations and the identification of nonlinear parameters of developed constitutive model demonstrated that the baked paste experiences nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic behavior at different temperatures.

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Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Alcoa—Aluminium Company of America Inc. A part of the research presented in this paper was financed by the Fonds de recherche du Québec—nature et technologies by the intermediary of the Aluminium Research Centre—REGAL. Authors also wish to express their gratitude to Aluminium Research Centre laboratory’s staff from Laval University, particularly Mr. Hugues Ferland for his technical supports. Authors appreciate Mr. Moez Ben Boubaker for his co-operation in performing AE measurements.

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  1. Sakineh Orangi

    Present address: SolidXperts, 10000 Boul Henri-Bourassa O, Saint-Laurent, QC, H4S 1R5, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)/Alcoa Industrial Research Chair Modelling of Aluminium, Cell and Electrical Energy Efficiency (MACE3) and Aluminium Research Centre–REGAL, Department of Civil and Water Engineering, Univ. Laval, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Sakineh Orangi, Donald Picard, Houshang Alamdari & Mario Fafard

  2. Alcoa Primary Metals, Alcoa Technical Center, 100 Technical Drive, Alcoa Center, New Kensington, PA, 15069-0001, USA

    Donald Ziegler

Authors
  1. Sakineh Orangi
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  2. Donald Picard
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  3. Houshang Alamdari
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  4. Donald Ziegler
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  5. Mario Fafard
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sakineh Orangi.

Appendix

Appendix

See Fig. a1 and a2

Fig. a1
figure 15

AE voltages measured for untested samples

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Fig. a2
figure 16

Comparison of the model and experimental results for \(T_{\text{b}} = 250\;^\circ {\text{C}}\)

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Orangi, S., Picard, D., Alamdari, H. et al. Characterization of Time-Dependent Behavior of Ramming Paste Used in an Aluminum Electrolysis Cell. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 24, 4764–4776 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-015-1792-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-015-1792-7

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