Thermal Creep of Coke-Oven Jamb Frames

The jamb frame is one of the major structural elements of a coke-oven end-closure system. The structural behavior of the jamb interacting with other end-closure elements determines the sealing performance of the system as a whole. One of the main causes of poor sealing is the accumulation of reversible and/or irreversible jamb distortions. In particular, the jamb frame often deforms in its plane so that the posts deflect towards each other--a deformation called hourglassing.