Acoustic emission based damage limits and their correlation with fatigue resistance of refractory masonry. (20th March 2018) - Andreev, K.
Graphical abstract: Highlights: Micro fracture of different refractories is defined from acoustic emission (AE) data. AE LOAD and CALM ratios from cyclic testing indicate critical damage limits. Displacement controlled tests experimentally quantify cyclic fatigue resistance. Lower fatigue resistance zone correlates with AE-based critical damage limit. Less brittle material has lower fatigue resistance in broader amplitude range. Abstract: During service in industrial furnaces, refractory masonry is exposed to cyclic thermal strains. Fatigue is a frequent cause of structural failure. In this study, displacement-controlled cyclic tests are applied to quantify the fatigue resistance of two silica-based products demonstrating different brittleness at failure. Limits for displacement producing critical damage were obtained from Acoustic Emission (AE) data. CALM and LOAD ratios, obtained from short-term cyclic tests, were used for this purpose. A correlation was found between experimental fatigue curves and AE-based damage limits. Less brittle material was found to be more susceptible to fatigue degradation in the broader amplitude range.