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Os revestimentos cerâmicos para pavimento apresentam crescente utilização em razão de suas características e propriedades vantajosas quando comparados a outros sistemas de revestimento. Contudo, o desempenho adequado desse tipo de revestimento está associado a uma correta especificação da placa cerâmica ao seu local de uso. O objetivo desse estudo é avaliar a resistência de sistemas de piso, com revestimento cerâmico, a solicitações verticais. Os sistemas de piso foram compostos por 4 categorias de placas cerâmicas, com 3 amostras de piso, obtendo-se, no total, 12 sistemas e todos instrumentados com extensômetros para medida das deformações. Estes foram submetidos a cargas verticais de compressão até o surgimento visível de fissuras na superfície, as cargas de ruptura foram reportadas mediante análise das deformações desses. Os resultados indicaram que a classe de absorção de água e o módulo de resistência à flexão das placas cerâmicas são balizadores quanto a resistência dos sistemas. Verificou-se que o módulo de resistência à flexão da placa cerâmica de um sistema correlaciona-se com o valor da carga suportada por ele e que a posição de aplicação da carga não interfere na capacidade de carga dos sistemas.

This work evaluated the water absorption of glazed porcelain stoneware ceramic tiles using three different methods. Two methods were based on a procedure of boiling in water, specified by standards ISO 10545 and ASTM C373, and the third was the vacuum method proposed by the standard ISO 10545. The three products produced under the three different firing conditions were tested according to a 22 factorial design, with intervening factors of the boiling time and immersion time for the methods involving boiling, and of pressure and immersion time for the vacuum method. The maximum saturation of the plates was evaluated by helium gas pycnometry testing. The results showed that no sample saturation occurs in the boiling water absorption test performed according to the conditions established by standards ISO 10545 and ASTM C373. The values of open porosity, using the method of helium gas picnometry, showed absolute values of saturation higher than those presented by the water absorption measured according to the current standards. Thus, the results showed that the current methods for determining the water absorption of glazed porcelain stoneware ceramic tiles do not guarantee the complete saturation of the plates and, therefore, they are not able to correctly measure this property.

Among the most important properties of ceramic floor tiles, the static and dynamic coefficients of friction assume an important role. The literature and current standards regarding ceramic floor tiles suggest different methods for determining the values of the coefficients of static and dynamic friction; however, all methods present limitations of implementation, and it is common for them to produce different values and hence specifications for different applications. In the present study, tests were conducted on the products with different topcoats and roughness to determine the coefficient of friction using the standards NBR 13818, ANSI A137.1, DIN 51130, and UNE-ENV 12633 and our proposed methodology. These values were compared with the roughness measurements obtained by mechanical contact profilometry. Additionally, empirical human evaluation of the roughness was performed. The trials indicated very different results on different experimental equipment for the same type of surface. The roughness test yielded parameters that correlate well with the empirical evaluation. The study shows the need for searching the uniformity of standards because each methodology produces different (even uncorrelated) results.