Production of many materials requires treatment at elevated temperatures. Calcination and sintering are some of the important heat treatment procedures which are typically performed in so-called rotary kilns. These, not very well-known treatment vessels, have a significant impact on our everyday life. Our most common materials have direct con-nection to the use of rotary kilns. Concrete−covering the vast 80 wt% of total material production in the world−consists to a large part of cement produced in a rotary kiln. Steel−by far the most produced metal−frequently starts its journey in a rotary kiln in form of iron-ore pellets. Paper−another everyday life product−is dependent on mineral lime that is typically calcinated in a rotary kiln. The importance of rotary kilns in our society cannot be doubted.

The concept of a rotary kiln is rather simple. It consists of a thick cylinder-formed steel casing that, due to high process temperatures, is insulated by a refractory lining. Service conditions inside the rotary kiln are rough and the refractory lining is continuously degrading, especially pronounced in the hot zone of the rotary kiln. If the lining is significantly deteriorated and can no longer protect the casing from the heat−the production is shut-down−leading to very high production losses.

Despite many improvements of rotary kilns in the past decades, there is still a gap in the knowledge regarding refractory linings during usage. Many assumptions are based on practical knowledge. One explanation to this could be the difficulty to study and observe the lining due to the large sizes of rotary kilns and high operating temperatures. Today, computers are of a great help for studying various issues without causing production delays or risking failures. However, the field of rotary kilns has stagnated on this matter and little documentation can be found regarding numerical simulations of the refractory lining for rotary kilns, especially of the thermomechanical character.

The aim of this thesis work was to create a numerical model of a rotary kiln usedin iron-ore pelletizing for studying the mechanical and thermomechanical behaviour of refractory brick lining. For this, a simplified finite element model (FEM) of a rotary kiln was created and its trustworthiness verified. It was confirmed that the model gives agood response. Different tips and justifications in the creation of the model of the rotary kiln are given. Furthermore, some mechanical material tests were performed for data input into the model. Various fundamental cases were studied in cold and hot states of the rotary kiln. It was shown that critical situations affecting the brick lining could be captured in a satisfactory way. The insight into the behaviour of the brick lining with respect to various parameters opens possibilities for lowering risk of brick lining failure by an improved management of the rotary kiln.