New Ceramic Tiles Produced Using Old Technology Applied on Historic Roofs—Possibilities and Challenges

Abstract

In the case of historic buildings, especially those under protection, it is important to replace elements of the roof covering, while maintaining current technical standards, to meet the requirements of the conservator. The authors of the article present alternatives to commonly used solutions, based on their experience with replacing historic building roofing with ceramic tiles made according to the production and firing technology of the nineteenth century. They emphasize that the correct/specialized restoration of existing tiles in a building makes it possible to preserve and reuse them, which is in line with the principles of historic preservation. However, due to the preservation of the roof tiles, it is not always possible to revitalize them. As a solution to the problem, the use of clay roof tiles manufactured according to 19th-century firing technology, including handmade methods, is presented, which preserves the geometry of the historic roof tiles. The approach presented by the authors meets both the requirements of conservation theory and the building standards for roofing elements. Although it is much more expensive than the solutions currently commonly used that result from modern technical requirements and tile-manufacturing technology, in the case of objects of significant cultural heritage, it is a solution that meets modern technical requirements while not compromising the original appearance of the monument.

Fracture Behavior of Crop Circle Ceramic Tiles: Experimental and Numerical Study

“…Generally, flexural strength behavior has been of the utmost interest and has been studied extensively [7,9,16]. Most loading configurations concerned the three-point loading system [7,9,[17][18][19]. A wide range of flexural strengths were determined, mainly a function of the basic materials, addition of components, sintering temperature and duration, and porosity.…”