摘要

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of using the impact-echo method for monitoring extremely long-term frost resistance of ceramic tiles. Non-destructive testing methods make it possible to sensitively identify the occurrence and development of defects in materials. Impact-echo methods belong to the family of non-destructive testing methods and can be applied in many branches, among others also in civil engineering. To assess the ceramic-tile frost resistance, a new measurement method was developed based on using the acoustic properties of ceramic tiles. Sets of ceramic tiles of the la class were analyzed according to the EN 14 411 B standard. The ceramic tiles under investigation were subjected to degradation due to 500 freeze-thaw cycles in compliance with the relevant EN ISO 10545-12 standard. To verify the correctness of the impact-echo-method results, additional physical properties of the tested ceramic tiles were measured. To analyze the specimen-surface condition, we also used an Olympus LEXT 3100 confocal scanning microscope. It was proved that the impact-echo acoustic method is a sensitive indicator of a structure condition and can be applied to assess the frost resistance of a ceramic cladding element and predict its service life.

  • 出版日期2015-8