Analysis of fracture behavior in metallurgical coke using rigid bodies-spring model

In this study, fracture behavior of coke is investigated using 4-point bending tests and numerical analyses of Rigid Bodies-Spring Model. In 4-point bending tests, it is shown that the fracture behavior of coke is brittle fracture. The fracture occurrs at the middle of the bottom face of the coke specimen and a crack propagates vertically upwards. Finally, the coke specimen collapses with the powder. The fracture analyses using RBSM (Rigid Bodies-Spring Model) assuming 4-point bending tests were carried out for two cases in order to investigate the effect of existence of pores on fracture behavior of coke. In case 1, pores are not arranged in the analytical object and the effect of pores is considered by a decrease in the macro material constants. In case 2, the effect of pores is considered by arranging pores in the analytical object. Analytical results of case 2 reproduce the fracture behavior better than those of case 1. In addition, varying the inner structure and input data such as elastic modulus, yield criterion and so on, leads to improve the precision of fracture analyses of coke.