Resonant Inspection of Ceramic Tiles

Abstract

For as long as there have been metal, steel and other materials, there have been methods and ways to inspect them. The efforts to improve these methods continue to be a work in progress. Non-destructive techniques are rapidly used to control materials' properties during the manufacturing and using. In this study resonant inspection (RI) technique to characterize ceramic tiles was used as a nondestructive testing method (NDT). Three variables affect the resonant response of a part: mass, stiffness and damping. When production is stable and controlled, these three characteristics are consistent and predictable. Anything that creates a change in the mass, stiffness or damping of the product, including general tolerances within acceptable good parts, will change the resonance response. The resonant inspection (RI) measures the structural response of a part and evaluates it against the statistical variation from a control set of good parts to screen defects was used to determine processing differences between ceramic tiles. Ceramic tiles with different pressing pressures and sintering temperatures were prepared. Due to the processing differences, water absorption (%), apparent porosity (%) and mechanical properties of these tiles changed and the inspected properties measured conventional techniques. By measuring the resonances of ceramic tiles, the structural characteristics of these tiles were determined in a single test. The resonant inspection technique's results compared with the results of water absorption (%), apparent porosity (%) measurements and mechanical tests. The technique based on resonant acoustic method was shown to be applicable for characterization of ceramic tiles' processing parameters in an automated and objective fashion.