Preparation of engineered stones

Abstract

Engineered Stones were produced in a laboratory using polyester resin and domestic quart stones. Selection of these particle sizes were based on packing theory and simple Stroke's law. From combination of both scenario, three different sizes of quartz were calculated and selected. In this scenario, the smallest size was calculated to be 6 μm while the other size ranges were calculated based on the 7x factor. To test the idea, another two sets of samples were also prepared for comparison. The samples were fabricated by vibration or uniaxial pressing. It was found that all the sample sets fabricated by pressing offered better density and Vickers hardness due to the better packing and higher solid loading of the composite. However, the sample set which strictly followed the calculation did not provide the best density and hardness suggesting that the simple model may not be fully correct and some missing parameters may be required. The best sample set belonged to one which followed 7x factor but with a larger starting quartz size. Sample set with the best properties was comparable to the commercial products.