Consequently, blast furnace hearth wall designers must properly identify
and address all factors that can contribute to refractory wear, including the actual
cause of the problem, not just the “symptoms.” For example, it has been a standard
practice in some regions to increase lining wall thickness as a response to
severe wall material loss, when the actual cause of the initial material loss was
that the wall was originally too thick to be properly cooled or to accommodate
differential stresses through its thickness!