Refractories are an often overlooked, but critical part of the entire iron and steelmaking chain of quality. Often viewed as an art rather than a science, refractory application is nevertheless grounded in an engineering discipline that seeks to match the demands of the application to the physicochemical material properties of the "bricking" and the "shapes." Note that the terminology of bricks and shapes often is used interchangeably with tundish linings and FMDs, respectively; the latter terms shall be used in this discourse. A testament to the scientific grounding for refractories is offered by the fact that some 116 distinct ASTM procedures exist for the classification and testing of refractories. Many of these tests are directly applicable to steelmaking ceramics.
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