Tribomechanical Properties of Glazes for Ceramic Tiles: A Novel Protocol for Their Characterization

The aim of the work is to design and validate a characterization protocol for glazes used in the ceramic tile industry to lead manufacturers and researchers towards the formulation of glazes with enhanced wear resistance properties. The focus of the protocol is addressed to determine surface parameters that strongly depend on glaze formulation and firing temperature. This protocol includes analytical (e.g., thermal analysis, Vickers microhardness, microstructural investigation, etc.) and technological tests (i.e., impact resistance and surface abrasion resistance test), the latter carried out on ceramic tile samples where four different glazes have been applied. The characterization protocol set in this paper highlights the importance of using both analytical and technological tests for glaze investigations and provides threshold values for specific parameters useful in developing glass-ceramic glazes with enhanced mechanical and tribological properties.