Effect of silica sol of different routes on the properties of low cement castables

Silica sols synthesized through different routes viz. inorganic, organic and ion-exchange routes, have been incorporated in the low cement alumina castable composition in various proportions and cast samples in the form of 2 inch cube briquettes were prepared. The cast briquettes after curing were subjected to heat treatment at various temperatures. The effect of different sources of such sols on the important physico-mechanical properties of the castables such as bulk density, apparent porosity, compressive strength, volume shrinkage and residual strength after spalling have been studied. Some of the selected samples were also subjected to microstructural evaluation. It is observed that silica sol synthesized through cation exchange routes has significant beneficial role on the properties of castable with 3% addition.