An estimate of quartz content and particle size in porcelain tiles from young's modulus measurements

The influence of quartz particle size, weight content and firing temperature on the Young's modulus of porcelain tiles was studied. To simulate a porcelain tile microstructure, an albite glass matrix with added crystalline quartz particles was developed. Average particle size of quartz (3.4 and 31 µm) and volume content (18.5 and 37.6 vol%) were varied. An acoustic impulse excitation technique was used to measure the elastic modulus from room temperature up to 700 °C. Results showed that quartz has a major influence on the elastic modulus of porcelain tiles. At temperatures below 573 °C, a hysteresis area between the Young's modulus curves during heating and cooling was closely related to quartz particle size. Between 573 and 700 °C, the variation of the Young's modulus was related to the quartz volume fraction. By using those correlations, a prediction of quartz content and quartz particle size in commercial porcelain materials can be carried out from Young´s modulus data.