Porcelain and its use

Ceramic granite today is one of the most beautiful and sought after building materials in its class. Excellent characteristics, aesthetic appearance and unique properties make people around the world tend to choose this material. In this article we will talk about what is porcelain stoneware and where it is used.

Characteristics

Ceramic granite was invented very recently, in the 70s of the last century, in one of the Italian towns. Literally from Italian, the word "granite" is translated as ceramics from stone and porcelain, which more than accurately reflects its essence.

Ceramic granite represents a harmonious combination of the best qualities of natural granite, ceramics and porcelain. It is a beautiful, durable material with excellent consumer characteristics.

Composition and production

Ceramic granite is made from a mixture of varieties of white clay, quartz sand, spar and various dyes.

The production process consists of the following stages:

1. Stage one is the formation of tiles from the prepared mass and subsequent pressing with hydraulic presses at a pressure of 5 centners per 1 square centimeter.
2. Phase two - firing at 1300C.At this stage, the raw materials are sintered, forming a solid, durable material.

Special production technology allows to produce a material that exceeds the strength of ceramic tiles several times. Also, the process almost completely recreates the natural conditions for the formation of natural breed. The main difficulty is to observe the proportions of raw materials as accurately as possible and monitor the temperature regime, especially when the amount of raw materials is measured in tens of tons. Accuracy of only 1-2 degrees can disrupt the geometric parameters of the tile.

Properties

To list all the advantages of ceramic granite, it will take a lot of time and space, but this material is definitely worth it. We will highlight and consider only the most obvious and main advantages of ceramic tiles.

Advantages of porcelain stoneware:

• high strength - gradual heating to high temperatures and strong pressing eliminate tiny voids and pores, allowing to obtain phenomenally hard material;
• abrasion resistance;
• low water absorption - more precisely, water absorption of ceramic granite is practically absent( only 0.05%);
• high frost resistance - can withstand temperatures up to -50 ° C;
• long service life;
• nice exterior.

Features of

The ceramic granite structure is reminiscent of glass in nature and one can not help but mention that porcelain stoneware can break like glass. This does not mean that it is fragile. On the contrary, we must try hard to find him a rival in strength! Friability and hardness are different concepts. The ceramic granite slab can be broken only during transportation or inaccurate installation. But as soon as the stove is laid, it is possible to ride it at least with an armored personnel carrier - nothing will happen.

Porcelain tiles are produced in thicknesses from 4 to 30 mm. The most popular plates are from 10 to 14 mm thick. They are great for flooring in industrial premises, although they are quite expensive. The cost of ceramic granite plate directly depends on its thickness, texture and color.

The most expensive, 3-xantimetrovye plates, are made only to order. However, the strength of the plate largely depends not on the thickness, but on the quality of laying. So, a well-laid 7 mm plate can easily compete with a hastily glued 30-millimeter heavyweight.

Appearance

By adding various dyes and applying special processing technologies, it is possible to produce completely different "grades" of porcelain stoneware.

Surface texture classification:

• polished - from the surface of the slab cut the front rough and polish it. Such slabs are used mainly for decorative finishing, because the beautiful surface is very "capricious" and impractical - it is easily scratched and slides strongly when wet;
  
• unpolished or "matte" - the plates do not undergo mechanical treatment after thermal treatment in the furnace. This is the cheapest kind of granite;
  
• anti-slip - plates with a relief pattern are used for flooring.
  

Staining

For the coloring of porcelain tiles, special coloring compositions are used which are the original pigment mixtures that occur in a natural environment. So, to give a ceramic-granite slab a bright green juicy shade, you need to add a mixture of zirconium. Cobalt compounds are used to obtain blue ceramic granite. But, as you can immediately notice, colored granite stands an order of magnitude more expensive than the usual gray salt-pepper plate, because the cost of pigments is quite high.

One of the ways to reduce the cost of ceramic granite slabs is partial staining. The material is covered with a pigment that stains only a few millimeters from the entire thickness of the plate. In this way, plates made of marble, granite and basalt are made. This method saves expensive pigments, thereby reducing the cost of the final product.

There are ceramic granite slabs with impregnations of shells, pebbles and attractive relief texture. It takes a little more time to make them. After the creation of the ceramic granite slab, it is covered with a layer with the necessary "ingredients" or an ordered relief pattern, and then again sent under the press. The production of such original designer ceramics is expensive, so the cost of it is appropriate.

But, despite all the efforts of designers, granite is just an imitation of natural stone. It's good or bad for everyone to decide for himself, but it will be superfluous to mention one more fact. Unlike natural rocks, ceramic granite does not possess a radioactive field at all, while the stones will in any case have a radiation background.

"Wooden ceramics"

This technology for the processing of porcelain stoneware is designed to mitigate the "coldness" of the stone and create a "wooden" analog with all the smallest details, texture and color shades. Just imagine how amazing it will look like stone parquet, which does not outwardly distinguish it from a wooden one! And how many generations he will serve! This is then easy to take care of as opposed to wood. The only minus of granite for the floor is cold. The stone does not heat, and therefore the installation of such a coating will be an excellent reason for buying a beautiful carpet or heating installation.

Application of

Having examined the characteristics of porcelain stoneware, it becomes clear that such exceptional material will be useful in many industries. The range of ceramic granite tiles is incredibly wide. It is suitable for interior finishing as well as for exterior work.

Areas of application of porcelain tiles:

• decoration in places with a large flow of people( metro, train stations, airports).Covering of porcelain is almost forever, so it saves a lot of the state budget, without requiring frequent repairs;
• floors, sidewalks and steps of ceramic granite are not inferior in quality to expensive filling floors;
• facades made of porcelain stoneware - for facade finishing use large slabs with a thickness of 14 mm and dimensions of 60x60 cm. As a rule, granite "flaunts" on state institutions, giving them a strict and formal appearance;
• interior finish - if you use ceramic granite for the street, it's profitable, then applying it inside the house, you can create noble and unusual interiors. The material does not require virtually any maintenance and does not absorb liquids, so it produces magnificent kitchen countertops, coverings and interior elements for bathrooms;
• application in industrial premises - porcelain stoneware perfectly tolerates the impact of aggressive chemicals, so it is excellent for finishing workshops and production facilities. High heat resistance makes it possible to use it in boiler rooms. Ceramic granite slab with a thickness of only 8.5 mm is able to withstand a load of 200 kg per 1 square centimeter, so you can safely put such slabs on the floor in the garage.

Useful recommendation: to distinguish the real porcelain stoneware from a fake or ceramic tile, look at the cut of the material - the picture on the cut of the ceramic granite slab completely duplicates the drawing of the front side.