Assessing the thermal degradation of bonded joints in flat ceramic tiles of building facades by numerical and experimental dynamic analysis

Abstract

Flat ceramic tiles are widely used as protective and aesthetic construction elements in urban building facades. Under the effect of extreme temperatures from the weather seasonality, bonded joints of these tiles undergo thermal cycle’s loads. In this work, a dynamic technique based on vibration metrology is implemented. This procedure consists in the analysis of accelerograms obtained in bonded ceramic tiles from low-intensity impact loads. A corresponding study carried out with finite element modelling allowed an accurate calibration of mechanical parameters of the tile/adhesive pair as well as the estimation of a vibration dissipation factor. Several test specimens subjected to a defined period of thermal cycles stressing were also analysed for the mentioned accelerogram and an expression for the ageing estimation of the mechanical properties of the bonded joints in the tiles was obtained.