Gres fashionable and stylish

In terms of construction and design porcelain (aka gres porcellanato or porcelain tile) - the material is relatively young, the production and use of which in the construction industry started in the 80's of last century. In terms of construction and design porcelain (aka gres porcellanato or porcelain tile) - the material is relatively young, the production and use of which in the construction industry started in the 80's of last century. In such a short period of granite not only reached the leading position among the materials akin to the destination, but also continues to severely afflict them with the world market for construction and finishing materials. This is not surprising - for about the same time and almost at the same time the personal computer has replaced many of the devices, whose positions in science, industry and everyday life also seemed unshakable. What has caused such a rapid rise in popularity brand new material? What is the granite? Try to look at from the outset. The composition and manufacturing process Porcelain tiles usually referred to ceramic materials, although the composition, production method and properties allow to consider it a much greater extent as granite, rather than conventional ceramics. The right thing was to call it "synthetic stone." By comparing the composition of granite natural origin and gres porcellanato can see that in both materials present a variety of feldspar, quartz inclusions, kaolin clay. So what's the difference? The fact that the formation of both materials occurred under high pressures and temperatures, only in one case the formation of stone took place over centuries, and in another process of accelerated and managed. In this controlled process and is the main advantage of granite. It is through the controlled production process at the stage of preparation of raw mass of granite is in pole position. For its production uses only the highest quality white kaolin clay, pure quartz sand, feldspar, and natural pigments (usually - metal oxides, often rare). Raw mass after preparation compressed into shapes under pressure of 400-500 kg / cm, and then subjected to roasting at a temperature of 1200-1300 ° C. At this temperature inside the material is re-structuring of components, and they form a vitrified monolith in many performance characteristics superior to natural counterparts. Unlike granite, natural stone has many defects such as: fractures, the presence of foreign inclusions, or cavities, radioactivity. Properties and operating characteristics of hardness and wear resistance. These properties of granite are most significant when viewed as an alternative to natural stone. Indicator of hardness is measured for gres porcellanato on the same scale MEP (MOHS), as for the stone. As a rule, the hardness of matte porcelain (not further processed) - 8-9 units for MOHS, and polished - 5-6 units. For comparison: the hardness of the main natural abrasives - silica sand is less than 7 units. Strength tests on this scale are as follows: the tested sample is trying incised with various materials, hardness is reliably known. If any of the abrasive left on the surface of the sample trace, then the model is set to 1 point below the abrasive. The hardness of diamond and corundum - 10 points, and only they are capable of incised ceramic mat. However, it should be noted that the verification on the strength of granite is not only on the scale of MOHS. Tests "to wear" is usually conducted on a scale of PEI, (scale of the figure shows the rate of loss of the working surface under the action of abrasive materials), as well as for conventional ceramic tile. PEI provides for the separation of the tiles on the classes (I to V) with increasing wear. Porcelain tile, depending on the type of surface treatment can have wear indicator II to V. Wear resistance is most important when using granite as a floor covering. Consequently, for places that provide intensive and demanding conditions, it is necessary to choose matte porcelain, those painted "en masse", or glazed ceramic with an exponent of PEI IV-V. For floors with low loads and to finish on vertical surfaces, both inside and outside the high strength is not required. Consequently, polished granite and Semi can decorate any surface that will not be subject to intense attack by natural abrasives. Resistance to temperature extremes. Frost resistance. According to the indicators of granite are also superior to most varieties of natural stone because of greater density and uniformity. Fluctuations in temperature create additional stresses in the material, and in places of natural fractures, geodes (cavities in natural stones), or foreign matter is most delicate and usually ends with one - the destruction of the material. In the crack penetrates the water after the evaporation of which are crystals of salt (any water contains dissolved salts). Crystals grow, and pressure them so that eventually they may even break the very strong thick tiles. The same goes for frost: water that has penetrated the natural cracks and cavities of natural stone, freezing can break it down even faster than salt crystals, but with porcelain that can not happen: because of the homogeneous and thoroughly mixed in the preparation and vitrification, as a result of firing weight, ceramic successfully resisted, and temperature fluctuations, and exposed to water. Coefficient of water absorption of porcelain - about 0.05% (for natural granite is considered the norm 0,5%), and as a result: the water is not dangerous to gres porcellanato neither summer nor winter. According to this index porcelain has no rivals among kindred materials. Indirect result of low water absorption can be considered as resistance to aggressive media stoneware: it is completely indifferent as to organic substances such as fats or solvents, and the most strong acids and alkalis. The only exception - hydrofluoric acid HF (due to the fact that this acid reacts with glass). Other useful properties due to the fact that the components for the production of porcelain tiles are carefully selected in terms of radioactivity, the final product is guaranteed to be delivered from the high background, which can not be said about many kinds of granite and other volcanic rocks (basalt, labradorite, gabbro). Of course, for parties to enhance their own background impose various restrictions on application areas, but for the granite and it is not required. Generally gres porcellanato - environmentally friendly material because in addition to all these properties, it also does not release any substances into the environment even with a fairly serious heat, and its chemical inertness and practically zero water absorption are the key bakteriostatichnosti. It should be noted the excellent stability of the "synthetic stone" to static and dynamic loads. It is also one of the consequences of a monolithic material - in the granite tile is no "weak spots" (cracks, cavities) that, when a shock or static load usually do not stand first. Tile gres porcellanato distribute any load on the entire mass of material that provides far greater "endurance", rather than that of natural stone. Source: http://5091999.ru