Evaluation of the steger method in the determination of ceramic-glaze joining

The lack of compatibility between the glaze surface and the ceramic substrate is one of the major causes of defects in ceramic processing. When no compatibility in the thermal expansion behavior exists between these two parts of a ceramic tile, defects like chipping, curvature and cracks can occur. Some methods have been developed to study these events, particularly the stresses between glaze and substrate, like the superposition of dilatometric curves, the glazed ring method and the Steger method. In this work the Steger method was compared to the dilatometric method in order to determine the factors that cause a perfect coupling (fit) between the glaze surface and ceramic substrate.