Apreliminaryapplicationofthedigitalimagecorrelation(DIC)ispresentedaimingtodetectandanalyzecracknetworkswhichareinducedbystressesarisingduringcuringanddrying(CD)ofMgOcontainingrefractorycastableslabs.SurfaceimagesofcastablesamplesplacedinaspeciallydesignedclimaticchamberwererecordedovertheCDstageswithadigitalcameraandprocessedbytheDICtechniquetomeasurethedisplacementfields.Post-processingDICresultswerecarriedouttoestimatethelength,orientationandopeningofcracksinthenetworks.Themethodologyishighlightedandthefirstexperimentalresultsareshownpointingoutitsfuturepotentialtobetterunderstandtheeffectofthephysicalaspects(particlesize,chemicalanalysis,temperature,etc.)andthestructuralones(slabshapeandsize)onprocessingandperformanceofadvancedrefractorycastables.
