Bending strength of porous ceramics tiles: Bounds and estimates of effective properties of an Intermingled Fractal Units' model

In this work, a semi-analytical model for the determination of effective mechanical properties of porous ceramic tiles obtained by pore forming agent is proposed. MIP tests allow measuring porosity and pore size distribution of experimental systems. These data are used for developing an Intermingled Fractal Units' model (IFU) as approximant of porous microstructures. IFU model is then combined with classical structural mechanics theory for the analytical computation of the bending strength of brittle ceramic beams. Bounds and estimates are given in full form and the detailed algorithm can be easily implemented in a numerical package. A preliminary comparison with experimental data shows the capability of the proposed model to reproduce the effective mechanical behaviour of ceramic tiles.