Thermomechanical characteristics of calcium aluminate cement and sand tapes prepared by tape casting

The present paper concerns the mechanical characterization of calcium aluminate cement and sand tapes prepared by tape casting, including ultrasonic measurements of Young's modulus at high temperature and evaluation of four point flexural behavior after heat treatments in the range of 20–1400 °C. It is shown that dehydration strongly affects mechanical properties in the 400–900 °C range, but that treatments at temperatures higher than 1200 °C increase both Young's modulus and strength. By correlation with thermal and X-ray diffraction analyses, the evolutions of thermomechanical properties have been related to phase and microstructural changes when heating the material after hydration: conversion of hydrates and dehydration at low temperature, then, crystallization of C–A and C–A–S phases and finally sintering at the highest temperatures. In a last part, it is shown that the reinforcement by glass fibres enhances the mechanical properties, in particular in the temperature range of dehydration, and gives to the material a non-brittle behavior.