The adherence ability of cement clinker on magnesia-spinel refractories is investigated, using a sandwich test at 1550 deg C for 30 minutes under a load of 5.3kPa. Fractional factoral experiments determine that the silica ratio and particle size of raw meal, as well as heating rate, have a significant effect on adherence ability. Microstructural analyses indicate that the adherence ability depends upon reactions between clinker and refractories at high temperature. Fine crystalline spinel, evenly distributed in magnesia based brick, is prone to reacting with lime-containing phases from clinker to form low melting phases and a belite-enriched zone at the clinker/brick interface. This reaction positively contributes to the high adherence on a magnesia spinel brick.
