Improvement of properties of self-flowing low-cement castables based on brown-fused alumina

A new self flowing brown-fused alumina based castable with 5 wt.% cement has been developed. An Andreason mathematical model (q=0.25) was used to adjust the granulometric particle size distribution. To achieve optimum self-leveling flowability, 5.6% water was used. The main physical and mechanical properties of the present castable were studied. Phase analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and apparent porosity (AP), bulk density (BD), water absorption (WA), cold crushing strength (CCS), hardness, and self-leveling flowability were investigated as a function of the firing temperature. The castable exhibited low AP and WA, and high CCS values with an increase in the firing temperature as a result of the corresponding phases.