About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Electrode Technology for Aluminum Production
|
| Presentation Title |
Mesostructural Evolution Guided Optimization of Carbon Cathodes: An X-ray Computed Tomography Study on Baking Process |
| Author(s) |
Jiaqi Li, Kejia Qiang, Hongliang Zhang, Jie Li, Bo Han |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Jiaqi Li |
| Abstract Scope |
Baking constitutes the core process in cathode preparation, where understanding the evolving material structure is essential for process optimization. This study employs X-ray computed tomography (CT) to elucidate the mesostructural evolution and thermo-mechanical behavior of carbon cathodes during baking process. Three distinct stages were identified, including low-temperature preheating (RT-240℃), intermediate intense coking (240-650℃), and high-temperature slow coking (650-1150℃). Pore network formation predominantly occurred during intense coking (<410℃), developing interconnected structures comprising 55-72% compound pores. Concurrently, thermally induced heterogeneous strain fields reach a critical peak at 410 ℃, initiating macro-crack formation in upper cathode regions. Building upon these mechanistic insights, we developed a CT-guided intelligent optimization integrating fractal geometry theory with particle swarm algorithms, achieving 3.09% reduction in air permeability, 14.39% improvement in thermal conductivity, and 25.34% decrease in electrical resistivity. his work advances fundamental understanding of cathode baking mechanisms while establishing a novel structure-property optimization methodology for high-performance carbon materials. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Light Metals |
| Keywords |
Aluminum, Characterization, Modeling and Simulation |