Influence of Thermal Effects Produced by Laser Treatment on the Tribological Behavior of Porcelain Ceramic Tiles

Commercial porcelain ceramic tiles have been irradiated with a laser to evaluate the thermal effects on their surface and in their tribological behavior. Different irradiation patterns were followed, varying the density of points where the laser was focused, from 25 to 150 dots per inch. Hardness and toughness were evaluated using Vickers indentations. Tribological behavior was studied using a ball-on-flat apparatus with alumina balls. An increase in the wear rate was observed in the higher irradiated samples, which can be correlated to a decrease in their toughness. A mechanism of severe wear by fracture propagation and material pullout is proposed to explain the experimental data and the observed corresponding microstucture.