The nature of transformations of «green» artificial graphite blanks during firing and graphitization depending on the packing density of the press powder and the yield of volatile substances

The influence of molding powder packing density and volatile content on the transformation of semifinished graphite during firing and graphitization was studied. Two coke-pitch mixtures with different volatile content were prepared to produce molding powders with different particle size distributions and then used to fabricate four series of artificial graphite blanks. Each series of blanks was fired in two environments: a coke bed and argon. After firing, all blanks were graphitized at 2800 °C in an argon flow. It was shown that the packing density of the molding powder affects the density of the blanks after pressing, firing, and graphitization, the degree of volume reduction during firing and graphitization, and their closed (for helium) porosity.