Non destructive test: an improved approach for rock characterization

The dimensional stone qualification through the use of non-destructive tests (NDT) is a relevant research topic for the industrial characterisation of finished products, because the competition of low-costs products can be faced by an offer of high-qualification and top-guarantee products. The synthesis of potenti-alities offered by the NDT is the qualification and guarantee similar to the well known agro-industrial PDO, Protected Denomination of Origin. In fact it is possible to guarantee both, the origin and the quality of each stone product element, mostly through a Factory Production Control on line. A specific disciplinary is needed. A research developed at DICMA-Univ. Bologna in the frame of the “OSMATER” INTERREG project, al-lowed identifying good correlations between destructive and non-destructive tests for some types of materials from Verbano-Cusio-Ossola region. For example, non conventional ultrasonic tests, image analysis parame-ters, water absorption and other measurements, turned out to be well correlated with the bending resistance, by relationships varying for each product. In conclusion it has been demonstrated that a non-destructive ap-proach allows reaching several goals, the most important among which are: 1) the identification of materials; 2) the selection of products; 3) the substitution of DT by NDT. Now it is necessary to move from a research phase to the industrial implementation, as well as to develop new ND technologies focused on specific aims.