The effect of heating rate and sintering temperature on the elastic modulus of porcelain tiles

The scope of the present study is to investigate the change of elastic modulus with the physical and mechanical properties of porcelain tiles. In the study, porcelain tiles were sintered at different temperatures and at different heating rates to obtain minimum water absorption (%). After this, the time of flight of longitudinal and shear ultrasonic waves was measured through the tile. The time of flight of ultrasonic waves was measured using contact ultrasonic transducers operating on a pulse-echo mode. Using the time of flight of the ultrasonic waves and the thickness of the tiles, the velocity of the waves was determined. Using the ultrasonic velocities and bulk density, the elastic modulus of the tiles was determined. Helium pycnometry, a bend test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were also carried out. The results show that the elastic modulus decreased with an increase of total porosity, but increased with bulk density and firing shrinkage. There is a polynomial relationship between elastic modulus and strength.