Evaluation of durability and cleanability performances of protective treatments for lapped ceramic tiles—Part 1

The aim of this work was to evaluate the durability, in real pedestrian traffic condition, of lapped porcelain stonewares with surface protective treatments able to fill up pores opened by the lapping process. In recent years, the durability of ceramic surfaces has become a key factor during the design process. The knowledge of the material durability is important to define the behavior of tiles in use. Standard procedures for indirectly assessing durability are already available (ie, abrasion tests, staining resistance, chemical resistance), however, a standard method of aging in real condition is still lacking. In this study, a durability test was performed in real pedestrian traffic condition by fixing tiles on floors to evaluate the surface characteristics after 6 and 12 months. The surface characteristics were analyzed before and after the durability tests and in terms of microstructural observations and determination of surface porosity. In particular a durability index has been estimated as ratio of pores filled by dirtiness respect to the original surface porosity (before aging). Results of durability index showed good correlation between aging duration and kind of treatments (industrially applied and/or manually applied).