The design of the experiment applied to ceramic tile technology: from the optimization of the mixture composition to the evaluation of the process parameters.

In the last decades, the ceramic world has increased its interest in developing tile formats larger and larger, using mainly the porcelain stoneware as type of material. Therefore the ceramic machine producer must adapt their products creating processes capable to follow this will. This thesis will focus on two different, but connected, works to manage the trend of this market. The first one is about the optimization of the procedure for the mixture creation, to reach a new high level of precision in foreseeing the mixture composition and the firing temperature for the creation of a tile with specific technological output parameters to satisfy both the client request and the international standards without any knowledge of the technological properties of the raw materials. The second task aim is to connect through a numerical model the input variables of two different types of compaction process: the traditional hydraulic axial press and the new continuous compaction press, named PCR, which represents the “heart” of the CONTINUA+Ⓡ process. Thanks to these correlations a reduction of wastes and costs during the start-up of the CONTINUA+Ⓡ will be possible. This project has been carried on by the University of Bologna, DICAM Department, with the strict collaboration of R&D Ceramics Department of SACMI Imola s.c.