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Simulation of the Creep Strain of Carbon-Based Cathode Material in the Aluminum Electrolysis

  • METALLURGY OF NONFERROUS METALS
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Abstract

Different stresses can occur in the carbon cathodes due to melting and penetration of sodium during aluminum electrolysis. Under high temperatures and elevated stress, carbon blocks experience primary creep, which can be extended to the secondary and tertiary creep stages. It is quite necessary to characterize the creep behavior of carbon cathodes. Therefore, uniaxial compressive creep testing devices have been used for measuring the creep strain of a semi-graphitic cathode material during aluminum electrolysis under various stress levels. The Graham creep equation is applied for the evaluation of the creep curves and the relationship between creep coefficient and stress is determined. The creep properties of carbon cathode are obtained via numerical simulation. The extracted model effectively supports the obtained experimental results. This work introduces a new insight into the development of cell design and quality control of carbon cathode materials.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge the financial support on this research from National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. U1704154).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, 471023, Luoyang, China

    Wei Wang &  Kai Sun

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Nonferrous Metals Henan Province, 471023, Luoyang, China

    Wei Wang &  Kai Sun

  3. Henan Key Laboratory of Non-Ferrous Materials Science and Processing Technology, 471023, Luoyang, China

    Wei Wang &  Kai Sun

Authors
  1. Wei Wang
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  2. Kai Sun
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Correspondence to Wei Wang or Kai Sun.

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Wei Wang, Kai Sun Simulation of the Creep Strain of Carbon-Based Cathode Material in the Aluminum Electrolysis. Russ. J. Non-ferrous Metals 61, 241–247 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1067821220030189

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1067821220030189

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