Simulation of Expansion Joint of Bottom Lining in Ladle and Its Influence on Thermal Stress

Ladle is an important equipment of the metallurgical industry. Distribution of thermal stress in bottom linings has an essential influence on its life, and the size of its life-span affects the economic benefits of the iron and steel enterprise directly. In the process of design and calibration of the large-size ladle, it is of great significance to determine the stress distribution of each part of the ladle for safely and reliably running the device. Expansion joint has an important effect on the thermal stress of ladle composite construction body. The thermal expansion stress is one of important reasons that lead to damage, so it is of great practical value to calculate the thermal expansion stress. Expansion joint question between the inside linings could be summed up as a kind of contact question, whose physical model was set up, and the finite element model of expansion joint of bottom lining in ladle was built. The contact stress of expansion joint in each layer was researched. The results illustrate that setting 2 millimeters expansion joint can reduce the contact stress which is equate to 1/6 ~ 1/5 of crushing strength of the lining