1. What are the advantages of artificial stone than ceramics?
In terms of production processes, artificial stone is mainly composed of natural stone, and is produced after high-frequency vibration and squeezing under vacuum conditions, which gets rid of the strong dependence on the energy resources. Ceramics is mainly composed of clay, and is produced after baked under high temperature, which will cause great energy consumption and pollution.
In terms of artistic expression, artificial stone is the reproduction of natural marble. Its exquisite texture and soft lines create an elegant artistic effect better than that of ordinary ceramic products.
In terms of performance, flexibility and scalability of artificial stone are incomparable to ceramic products, and its unique reparability is favored by a large number of customers.
2. What are the main application fields of artificial stone now?
In terms of the application fields of artificial stone, it can be generally divided into the following fields: cabinet industry 10% (a currently well developed field), furniture fabrics 10%, special shaped products (square and round cylinder, door and window frame, crafts, handrail, line product, etc.) 40%, wall tile, floor tile and ceiling material 40% (manufactured by gravels, beautiful and wear-proof, comparable to imported floor tile).
Currently, the application range of artificial stone is still too narrow, and the wider application fields remain to be developed, especially the fields of special shaped artificial stone manufactured high-end crafts, wall and floor tiles, furniture fabrics and so on.
3. What are the application limitations of artificial stone?
(I) Artificial stone fades easily under strong ultraviolet irradiation, and is not recommended to be paved outdoor;
(II) As the main raw material of artificial stone is the marble, it retains the texture of the marble, and many natural marbles are of soft texture, so maintenance is required when it used.
3. Artificial stone can be processed easily. Does it mean that artificial stone is low hardness?
Artificial stone can be processed easily, cut in any way and formed into various patterns according to the demands of customers. The easily processability of artificial stone is decided by its high flexibility, rather than low hardness.
4. Will the artificial stone be weathered and corroded after used for a long time?
Weathering of stone refers to that the stone is decomposed due to the corrosion caused by various kinds of factors in the natural environment. Weathering degree of the stone is associated with the alkalinity or acidity of the external environment on one hand. The alkalinity or acidity of the environment will cause serious damages to the stone, and decrease sharply the service life of the stone. On the other hand, the compactness of molecular structure will affect the weathering degree to some extent.
Artificial stone is compact structure, and more corrosion resistant than natural marble. Therefore, artificial stone shall be prevented from being placed in acid and alkaline environment for a long time.
5. What factors will cause the holes and pits on the artificial stone surface?
Holes and pits on the artificial stone surface are caused when the air is not fully extracted and is closed in the stone during the compacting process, thus forming bubbles that fracture under pressure and when being cut.
Artificial stone is now mostly manufactured through vibration and compaction under vacuum conditions, and almost all the air is extracted during the manufacturing process. The product is of compact structure, and phenomena such as pores and pits are rarely seen. Strict specifications are established on the detection of the products. Therefore, the products provided for the customers will generally not have similar phenomena.
6. Will the artificial stone fracture, and how to avoid it?
Curing degree of block material is an important factor that affects the quality of the panel. During the manufacturing process, the square material shall be fully cured under natural conditions before entering into the next procedure. If the curing is too fast, the internal and external temperature of the square material will differ greatly, and then cause fractures. General curing process can be divided into two stages: cured in the mold for more than 24 hours; maintained and cured after demolded for more than 9 days.
7. What are pinholes and sand holes? How do they occur and how to avoid them?
Pinholes and sand holes refer to those large holes on the stone surface that will not seriously affect the appearance of the stone. After the stone is put into use, dirt will be easily accumulated in the pinholes, and greatly affect the cleaning and maintenance of the stone.
During the manufacturing of panels, the pinholes and sand holes shall be detected strictly, and shall be filled and leveled up with special filter immediately after discovered, to avoid accumulation of dirt.
8. What are the colored spots? How do they occur and how to avoid them?
Colored spots refer to the phenomenon that the surface colors are different due to the pigment abnormalities and unbalanced distribution of pigments. Colored spots are caused when the raw materials are not fully mixed or the mixer or the mold is not clean, thus bringing impurities into the material. Therefore, the raw materials must be fully mixed and the production equipment must be cleaned up regularly.
9. Why the artificial stone can not be used for external wall decoration?
Strong ultraviolet radiation will cause the aging of the resin, and then cause damages to the artificial stone. Therefore, it is not recommended to be used for external wall decoration.
10. How to distinguish good and bad artificial stone?
Look: Visually inspect the sample. The sample shall be of pure color, without the texture like plastic rubber on the surface and no fine pores on the reverse side of the panel;
Smell: Smell it and there shall be no pungent chemical smell;
Feel: Feel the surface of the sample with hands, and the surface shall feel like silk, smooth without blockage and no obvious unevenness;
Knock: Knock the sample with the an identical sample, and the samples shall not break easily;
Check: Check if the product is granted with ISO quality system certification, quality inspection report, product quality warranty card and relevant anti-fake labels.
