Elastic properties of porous porcelain stoneware tiles

Based on the quantitative XRD phase composition, elastic constants have been calculated via Voigt-Reuss-Hill averaging, and the influence of porosity has been taken into account via power-law and exponential relations. It is shown that the effective elastic constants predicted by exponential and power-law relations are in agreement with experimental values. It may be concluded that for this class of materials, in the porosity range below 14-16%, both exponential and power-law relations are helpful tools to design tiles with controlled microstructure and tailored mechanical properties.