Influence of the Concrete Block on the Tile Adhesive Strength Measured According to EN 12004

Abstract

Ceramic tile adhesives (CTA) are playing a dominant role for the business of dry-mix producers. Their quality is classified according to EN 12004. In addition, this standard describes the procedure of a CTA’s performance evaluation. Therefore, a defined ceramic tile, a concrete substrate, and the actual tile adhesive is required. In our study, we investigated the influence of different concrete slabs on the results of two tile adhesives. In two cases, the influence of an additional thermal storage of the concrete slabs was evaluated. The tests were strictly performed according to EN 12004-2:2017. The highest variation for the same tile adhesive was found for the adhesion after heat storage measured on different concrete substrates. With a higher polymer content the influence tended to level out. Additionally, a significant deviation was observed for the adhesion strength after water storage, even causing a lower CTA classification on one substrate. The results of our investigation show that the quality of concrete slabs and their storage conditions should be seriously considered in comparing the performance of tile adhesive according to EN 12004.