Raised Floor Systems with Ceramic Tiles

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical strength of raised floor systems with ceramic coatings. The raised floor prototypes are made of three types of ceramic tiles, two of which have a dimension of 60 × 60 cm and one has a dimension of 60 × 120 cm. Instrumentation is performed by attaching the strain gauges to the surface of the ceramic tiles. The raised floor prototypes are subjected to vertical compression loads until visible cracks appear on the surface of the ceramic tiles, and the resistance to system rupture is evaluated by analyzing their deformations. The results indicate that the load application position interferes with the resistive ability of the systems. Systems with plates having low water absorption and high thickness yield high breaking loads, which can be considered as the determining factors for outdoor applications of raised floor systems.