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Ceramic tiles |
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TilesCharacteristics of ceramic tilesCeramic tiles can be/have ... The mosst current types of ceramic tiles Ceramic accessories Physical and mechanical characteristics of tiles Wear-resistant groups PEI norm of ceramic tiles Hardness of ceramic tiles Skidproofness of ceramic tiles 
Ceramic tiles are relatively thin strips of ceramic material in diverse forms, sizes and thickness. Just as ceramic materials, crockery (plates, cups, ...) sanitary equipment (washbasins, toilets, ...), ceramic tiles are made from a mixture of clay, sand and other natural substances. The mixtures are grinded in the needed thickness, drought to a certain humidity level, shaped and fried in temperatures of 1000 to 1250 degrees, dependent of the asked type of tiles. Characteristics of ceramic tiles:As all ceramic materials, ceramic tiles are solid, strong, hygienic, easy to clean, not inflammable and fire-resistant. These are general advantages, there can be differences between the types of tiles. tiles are strong, they don't bent and don't go crooked. These are also advantages typical for ceramic materials.
The technical function is based on the knowledge of materials and their physical possibilities and their adaptation to the wanted effect. Ceramic tiles can be/have ...Glazed or unglazed:Glazed tiles have a top layer of coloured slip. Because of the slip, important design characteristics originate e.g. colour, shine, decoration, nuances,... and also technical characteristics such as hardness, density,... All those characteristics depend on the type of slip and can vary a lot.Unglazed tiles have a universal character in surface as in thickness, most of the time these tiles don't have decorations or patterns. 
Compact, dense or porous:Tiles can be compact, dense or, as called in the industry, impenetrable. This means the tiles' pores are connectec with each other. One needs a 'strong' microscope to see the tiles' characteristics. To measure the porosity, the amount of absorbed water in certain circumstances, is determined. In other words, the moister absorbation is layed down in a norm. The higher the moister absorbation, the more porous the tiles are.Pressed or extruded:Ceramic tiles can be formed by pressing or extruding. Pressed tiles are become by pressing a compact clay mixture in powder form under high pressure. Extruded tiles are formed by pressing or pulling the clay mixture through special nozzles.Have a red or white body:Dependent of the used base materials; the body of tiles, also called a fragment, can be coloured or white. The colour varies from yellow to red - brown. The colour of the body is relatively unimportant and doesn't come with a quality difference. For some unglazed tiles, different colours can be made by adding colour pigments.Different shapes and measurements:The must current measurements are square or rectangular, but there are also more complicated ones e.g. hexagon, octagon, Provençal and Moorish patterns. Measurements go from 1 cm by 1 cm mosaic to 60 cm by 120 cm porcellanato tiles. A more developing technology makes more and more possible. The surface of floor tiles are flat, structured, arched, polished-up, semi-polished-up. If this is possible depends on the type of tile. The finishing of the edge can be squared, without side, or grinded with a facet edge. There is a large range of antiskid floor tiles with different surface finishings and different systems according to the wanted level of antiskid. There is an extended range of norms that gives life to an antiskid classification.
The most current types of tiles:Bicottura tiles:Litteraly fried twice. These are glazed tiles of which the clay has been fried first and after the glazing the tiles have been fried a second time. The tiles are formed by pressing, have a porous body, and when coloured clay is used Italians speak of Cottoforte. When the same process is used on white clay, one speaks of Terraglia.Monocuttura tiles:Literaly fried once, these are glazed tiles of which frying and glazing are done together. The body can be white or coloured. The tiles are formed by pressing. There are compact and porous types, the last ones ar named Monoporosa.Special ways of the Monocuttura process are 'dust pressing' in which the slip is added in powder form on the moment of pressing; and glazing on 'incandescent base' in which the granular slip is melted on cindering clay during the highest oven temperature. The latter technique is called firestream. Splitting tiles:Splitting tiles are formed by extrusion, have a typical compact body and are available glazed as well as unglazed. The clay mass is pressed under high pressure through a nozzle, that has the form of two tiles.After drying the tiles are split mechanically. There are techniques in which one makes the form of the tiles by pulling the clay mass through a mould; these are then called pulled tiles or Trafilato. Both techniques are high-minded qualitative products and used in industrial and technical applications. Cotto tiles:Cotto tiles are produced by pressing and extrusion. The base materials are won in a restricted area in the South of Florence. The tiles always have a red body and have to be treated against porosity. Nowadays, there are pretreated types deliverable. This is indicated by the term Frattato. Cottotiles are almost always unglazed, though glazed is possible.
Double hard fried or DHF tiles:Double hard fried tiles are pressed, unglazed tiles that aer fried by temperatures of 1250 degrees. The term 'double hard fried' is originated because in the past tiles were fried at 600 degrees. By the higher temperatures there is more shrinkage and a better density so the tiles are denser of structure.Porcellanato tiles:Porcellanato tiles are mainly unglazed tiles on a white or pigment coloured body. By the producing method, very high pressure upto 525 kg/cm² and the use of porcelain earth, the tiles are extremely compact. Also typical is the small moisture intake (values below 0,04 %). By strong, forced development one is able to produce tiles that have the advantages of glazed as of unglazed tiles via application and slip techniques.Porcellanato tiles can also be delivered polished-up, by this the possibilities in the services sector are innumerous. On smaller basis, one produces Porcellanato Trafilato. It is the possibility to produce by extra accessories. Ceramic accessories:Beside the different types of ceramic tiles, as named, there are all kinds of accessories available, most of them for the services sector but also for individual persons.Skirting boards and corners:In the assortment double hard fried, there are hollow boards, in- and outside corners (lying or erect) available. But also special shower skirting boards with in- and outside corners. The same is available in the Porcellanato assortment. There are matching skirting boareds in different sizes available in the glazed as well as in the unglazed assortment. By mitre sawing or by grinding, one has to make the solutions for the corners. In the splitting tile assortment, we can deliver several erect skirting boards and also special sanitary skirting boards.Steps:Steps and their accessories come in a large range in the splitting tile assortment. In the Porcellanato assortment, the steps can only be delivered in a small amount.Modelling pieces:The splitting tile assortment offers a large range of tiles and special accessories to apply on swimming pools.Strips and inlays:Throughout the whole program there are glazed, unglazed, natural stone strips available to apply on the walls or the floors. These strips also come in combined colour and laying patterns. We also have an extensive assortment of fillings, corners, ...Physical and mechanic characteristics:Ceramic tiles don't only differ on the outside and the way in which they are produced but also in their technical character.The main characteristics that differ the tiles from each other are: Water absorbtion:Water absorbtion indicates the level of porosity, other different characteristics are determined by water absorbtion (EN 99).Measurements and appearance:There can be small differences in size and appearance of stones in one lot, or the flag can even be not completely flat (EN 98). A lot of different sizes come out of the oven while producing ceramic tiles. By producing the size 30x30 cm, we can also have following sizes: 295-296-297-298-299-300. After production, the tiles are sorted mechanically by size. On the package one puts the calibre size, e.g. 298 or 8. Calibre 298 means there is a size tollerance of 1 mm, in this it can be between 297,6 and 298,5. Colours are indicated by numbers on the wrap, these are the standard colours, every manufacturer tries to approach as perfect as possible. In the production process, there are different colour shades though, this cannot be ruled out in fried products. The colour differences have nothing to do with the quality. Also the shade is indicated on the package by the manufacturer.If one needs a lot in one calibre or shade, one has to signel this when ordering. The maximum size of a delivery of one lot in one shade or calibre is limited by the charge size. One always has to check if it is possible. By ordering extra afterwards, one needs to give the number of shade and calibre. Mechanical characteristics:There are norms for loads flexual strength, impact-resistance, ... (EN 100, RD 16/11/39 N 2234).Mechanical characteristics of the surface:There are norms for scratch-resistance, hardness and wear-resistance. (EN 102, EN 101)Wear-resistance groups:Wear-resistance groups for glazed ceramic tiles as agreed by CEC and EUF (London, March 1979), are divided as follows:Recommended applications Class 1:Flooring covering on places where one mainly walks on on shoes with soft soles or bare feeted and where there isn't any scratching dirt (e.g. bath- or bedrooms in the domestic sector and aren't excessible from outside).Class 2:Flooring on places where one walks on soft soles or normal shoes and where once in a while a small amount of scratching dirt is present (e.g. rooms in the living sphere of the house, with exception of the kitchen, entries and other spaces intensively used).Class 3:Flooring on places where one frequently walks on with normal shoes, while a small amount of scratching dirt can be present (e.g. halls, kitchens, balconies).Class 4:Flooring on places where there is a lof of passage and presence of scratching dirt. That are obviously the hardest circumstances in which glazed ceramic tiles are still suitable (e.g. entries, working spaces, catering establishments, exposition and selling spaces, also for other spaces in public and private buildings not named under class 1,2,3).The definitions are valid for the given applications under normal circumstances. The floors have to be protected agaings scratching dirt by applying dirt catchers (mats, grids) at the entrances of buildings. In case glazed tiles are not suitable because of heavy traffic or the unavoidable scratching dirt, one can use unglazed hard fried tiles. In practice, the specifications 1 to 4 will correspond with the glazed tiles brought on the market and the qualifications as described above. Some manufacturers are tempted to use class 5. This is confusing as the PEI-test is only appliable on the glazed floor tiles. PEI-norm of ceramic tiles:The wear-resistance of the surface of glazed tiles is measured in the PEI norm, we are talking about the wear-resistance and not about the hardness of a tile. In testing materials, tiles are tested by making turning movements with a disc on the surface of a flag, one uses steel bullets and aluminium powder as wear material. After a few rotations, it is determined whether there is visible damage or not. By comparing with the norms we get following wear groups.
Hardness of the tiles:The hardness of the tiles are expressed in units on the scale of Mohs:
Hardness norms are used for unglazed as well as for glazed tiles, for splits counts 5-6 on Mohs and for biscuits counts 6-7 on Mohs. The test is executed on the visible surfaces of tiles, if the surface is scratched by quartz (7) the tile surface gets the norm of Mohs 6, if not it is Mohs 7. Chemical characteristics:There are norms on the area of stain-resistance, resistance for domestic chemicals, acid-resistance and alkalines (EN 106) with an acid resistant application, the tiles have to be treated acidproof, therefore the correct joint is important. In most cases, one will choose for a two component grout concrete.Resistance of moisture and temperature swings:There are norms for thermal shocks, moisture-resistance and haircracks (EN 202, EN 104). tiles with a water intake capacity above 2 % are fros-resistant, the tiles also have to treated frostproof. It is important that tiles are resistant for temperature shifts. If tiles are applied on façades on terraces, one has to keep in account that dark tiles will store more sunheat than light ones. The stretching coefficient plays a role; the underground and glue choice are very important.Safety characteristics:The most important characteristic is the antiskid level; there are several norms that describe the antiskid level (BCRA).Antiskid levels:Antiskid group 1, floor surfaces in wet spaces, entered bare footedGroup AIn general dry floors, dressing rooms, ... pool bottoms in the shallow part with a depth of more than 80 cm. Slopes up to 12 degrees Group B Showers, pool edges, pool bottoms in the shallow part with less than 80 cm. Baby pools, in the water coming stairs with railing (max 100 cm wide) Slopes of 18 degrees Group C In the water coming stairs that don't fall under B Wade basin Spaces with high risks Slopes to 24 degrees Antiskid groups 2, public buildingsThe anitskid is tested according to the 'Schiebe ebene' method. The skid delaying characteristics or floor roughness is pressed with letter R and a number according to the slope.
Antiskid group 3, tiles with water-resistant spaces (ridge tiles)The level of water-resistance is expressed in cm³ water per dm². These are the possible values; indicated with a V and a number:
The correct application choice:There are tiles for all applications but there is not one universal applicable flag.In general tiles will have a decorative or technical application, sometime both aspects flow over in eachother but the main wish will stay the most important. Especially in technical applications, it is very important to gear the flag choice to the complete set of wanted characteristics. |
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