Incremento de resistencia mecánica en materiales de gres porcelánico a partir de tratamiento químico de intercambio iónico

This work provides a novel method for increasing the mechanical strength of porcelain materials. To achieve this was used a ceramic powder prepared from sodium feldspar and clay. This powder was wetted up to 8 wt.% with water and pieces of rectangular section are formed by uniaxial pressing at 21 MPa. The dried specimens were then sintered in a laboratory furnace (1,218 °C). These specimens were subjected to a chemical ion exchange treatment in order to increase their mechanical properties, also known chemical tempering. Temperature and time were varied during chemical treatment according to a factorial design. The results showed an increase of ∼74% in breaking force of porcelain material, providing a reduction of the material thickness greater than 15%. Therefore, the process of chemical tempering can be used to increase the breaking force and consequently decreasing the thickness, saving raw materials and energy in the production process.