SynopsisThe softening test under the conditions simulated an actual blast furnace and the gas permeability test for the softened sinter bed were carried out. An attempt was made to express the pressure drop in the softened sinter bed by the pressure drop equation with the first and the second order terms of gas velocity.The effects of the softening properties at high temperature on the gas flow in blast furnace were evaluated by the use of the mathematical gas flow model. The main results are as follows.(1) When the gas flow resistance obtained from the softening test at high temperature increases, the radial gas flow becomes predominant in the cohesive zone and the permeability in the blast furnace becomes worse.(2) When the high temperature properties of sinter become worse, the formation of steep inverse V-shaped cohesive zone is expected to prevent the aggravation of the permeability in the blast furnace.