The physical properties of refractory materials include structural properties, thermal properties, mechanical properties, service properties, and working properties. The mechanical properties of refractory materials cover compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, torsional strength, shear strength, impact strength, wear resistance, creep resistance, bond strength, and elastic modulus. The sintering method for refractory materials involves pre-firing of some raw materials into clinker, followed by crushing and sieving, and then mixing with raw materials at a certain ratio, and finally undergoing forming, drying, and firing.

Alkaline refractory materials are mainly composed of magnesium oxide and calcium oxide. Magnesia bricks are commonly used, containing over 80%–85% magnesium oxide. They have excellent resistance to alkaline slags and iron slags. The refractoriness of refractory materials is higher than that of fireclay bricks and silica bricks. Refractory materials are primarily applied in open-hearth furnaces, oxygen converters, electric furnaces, non-ferrous metal smelting equipment, and other high-temperature devices. Refractory materials have good corrosion resistance to steel slags but poor thermal shock resistance, with relatively low high-temperature load deformation temperatures.

There is a wide variety of refractory materials, which are typically classified by their refractoriness into common refractory materials, advanced refractory materials, and special-grade refractory materials. Currently, refractory materials generally refer to inorganic non-metallic materials used as the inner lining of production equipment in industries such as metallurgy, petrochemicals, cement, and ceramics. Acidic refractory materials mainly consist of silica, with common types being silica bricks and fireclay bricks. Silica bricks are silicon products containing over 94% silica. The raw materials used for refractory materials include quartz and waste silica bricks. Refractory materials have strong resistance to acidic slag erosion, high load softening temperatures, and do not shrink but may slightly expand after repeated firing.