Aluminium Titanate Leads the Way in Thermal Insulation Technology
Thermal insulation is used throughout our homes, businesses and industries to maintain an even temperature and save energy by lowering emissions. Furthermore, it protects from fire damages as well as providing sound proofing benefits.
Reaction sintered Aluminum Titanate is an ideal material choice for non-ferrous cast houses and foundries due to its exceptional properties, such as non-wettability with aluminum-rich melts, low thermal conductivity, and superior dimensional stability.
Excellent Thermal Shock Resistance
CUMI’s reaction sintered aluminium titanate ceramic material offers superior thermal shock resistance and chemical resistance – perfect for environments with strong temperature gradients. Furthermore, its dense construction provides for easy handling of liquid metal.
At zero R, alumina-titania composites without rutile addition demonstrated an amazingly even microstructure with grains ranging between 2-5 um in size. Higher rutile added samples displayed more irregular grains with some large elongated or cubic grains not exceeding 10 um. Open pores were also present between these grains.
An analysis of thermal expansion behavior among these samples demonstrated that those containing rutile added to alumina-titania displayed a distinct response compared to its peers, likely as a result of AT’s anisotropic crystal structure comprised of multiple domains with differing directions causing anisotropic behavior, leading to gradual decreases in thermal expansion values when increasing its content up to 40% wt%.
Reduced Thermal Conductivity
Aluminium titanate’s low thermal expansion and porosity make it an excellent material to withstand harsh environments like aggressive molten metal environments. Furthermore, its temperature-regulating capabilities enable it to meet non-ferrous (NF) metallurgical applications more effectively, decreasing how often refractories need reloading while improving productivity while decreasing downtime.
Aluminium titanate (AT), while offering great performance, does have some drawbacks, such as reduced mechanical strength and thermal stability. By adding rutile into AT composites we can produce composites with harmonious microstructures and improved mechanical properties.
Pressure-sintered alumina/AT composites with various levels of rutile addition (0-40wt%) were studied. Their XRD patterns were analysed, and it was discovered that increasing rutile content increased tialite crystallinity, decreased activation energy for decomposition, improved thermal stability, and showed an antiexpansion trend with increasing levels of rutile up to 40% compared to their counterpart with no addition.
Low Moisture Absorption
Aluminium Titanate (AT) is an ideal material for industrial applications due to its superior thermal shock resistance, low thermal conductivity and superior wetting ability with non-ferrous metal molten sources. AT is produced through reacting calcined alumina and titania powders in stoichiometric proportions to produce spacer rings in catalytic converters, diesel soot traps or even foundry foundry technology as spacer rings or refractory linings.
However, pure aluminium titanate can become unstable at temperatures exceeding 750 degC and decompose upon cooling. By adding oxide additives such as magnesium oxide, titanium dioxide, iron oxide or zirconium oxide as isostructural phases with tialite to AT, isostructural phases form that stabilise it and strengthens AT’s structure.
Rutile additions to AT also help improve sinterability and mechanical properties, with increasing rutile content up to 40 weight percent producing more dense ceramic with harmonious microstructural characteristics and enhanced mechanical strength. Furthermore, increasing rutile content was observed to decrease thermal expansion behavior (see Fig 2).
High Durability
Aluminium Titanate (AT) is a polycrystalline technical ceramic produced through reaction sintering of alumina and titania powder in stoichiometric proportions, creating a microporous material with outstanding durability in severe environments due to its non-wettability with liquid aluminium, slag or alkali solutions. Other properties that set Aluminium Titanate apart include corrosion resistance, wear resistance, high temperature resistance, alkali resistance and low thermal conductivity – qualities which also make this ceramic valuable to its users.
Pure tialite can be quite unstable at temperatures between 750-1350 degC; doping it with oxide additives such as magnesium, titanium, ferric and zirconium helps stabilize its structure and decrease sudden temperature shift sensitivity. Furthermore, adding rutile improves mechanical properties making the material easier to machine for complex shapes.
Aluminum titanate has become a sought-after alternative to cast iron, sintered fused silica, and cordierite in foundry technology and metallurgical melting applications due to its excellent thermal shock resistance. Aluminum titanate also stands up well to rapid temperature changes without cracking or discolouration – saving energy costs and providing reliable performance at once.