Schema of the four textural elements of a refractory and their respective
relationships. [From Ref. 5. Reprinted with permission of the Canadian Ceramics
Society (M. Rigaud)
synthetically by various combinations of chemical processing and heat treatment.
If the heat treatment is mild (900– 13008C), the raw material is described as
beingcalcined; if the heat treatment is more robust (1500 –22008C), the raw
material is then described as beingsintered(dead-burned materials are in this
group); and if the heat treatment proceeds to a molten state (e.g., for MgO, in
excess of 28008C), then the raw material is said to befused.