Search Results (2)

The paper describes an experiment focusing on the way the material system influences the bond strength of large-format tiles installed on concrete substrate during mechanical loading under conditions that correspond to real-life application. This involves a controllable mechanical load applied over an area of a test model while observing its condition using non-destructive methods (ultrasonic pulse velocity test, acoustic emission method, strain measurement, and acoustic tracing). The model consisted of a concrete slab onto which were mounted four different systems with large-format tiles with the dimensions of 3 m × 1 m. The combinations differed in the thickness of the tile, the adhesive, and whether or not a fabric membrane was included in the adhesive bed. The experiment showed that the loading caused no damage to the ceramic tile. All the detected failures took place in the adhesive layer or in the concrete slab. Full article

Ventilated facades are becoming an increasingly popular solution for external part of walls in the buildings. They may differ in many elements, among others things: claddings (fiber cement boards, HPL plates, large-slab ceramic tiles, ACM panels, stone cladding), types of substructures, console supports, etc. The main part that characterizes ventilated facades is the use of an air cavity between the cladding and thermal insulation. Unfortunately, in some aspects they are not yet well-standardized and tested. Above all, the requirements for the falling-off of elements from ventilated facades during a fire are not precisely defined by, among other things, the lack of clearly specified requirements and testing. This is undoubtedly a major problem, as it significantly affects the safety of evacuation during a fire emergency. For the purposes of this article, experimental tests were carried out on a large-scale facade model, with two types of external-facade cladding. The materials used as external cladding were fiber cement boards and large-slab ceramic tiles. The model of large-scale test was 3.95 m × 3.95 m, the burning gas released from the burner was used as the source of fire. The test lasted one hour. The facade model was equipped with thermocouples. The cladding materials showed different behavior during the test. Large-slab ceramic tiles seemed to be a safer form of external cladding for ventilated facades. Unfortunately, they were destroyed much faster, for about 6 min. Large-slab ceramic tiles were destroyed within the first dozen or so minutes, then their destruction did not proceed or was minimal. In the case of fiber cement boards, the destruction started from the eleventh minute and increased until the end of the test. The authors referred the results of large-scale test to testing on samples carried out by other authors. The results presented the convergence of large-scale test with samples. External claddings was equipped with additional mechanical protection. The use of additional mechanical protection to maintain external cladding elements increases their safety but does not completely eliminate the problem of the falling-off of parts of the facade. As research on fiber cement boards and large-slab ceramic tiles presented, these claddings were a major hazard due to fall-off from facade. Full article