Development of a multipurpose tile body: Phase and microstructural development

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2005.11.009Get rights and content

Abstract

In this study, an attempt was made in order to develop a multipurpose tile body using a single formulation. In order to achieve this, several body recipes were prepared using mainly local raw materials with clearly defined physical and chemical properties at different sieve residues and single fast fired under industrial conditions in the first part of the study. In the second part, the most suitable formulations with the corresponding sieve residues were determined and further fired at different peak temperatures under laboratory conditions in order to establish their vitrification ranges and optimum firing temperatures. The tested peak firing temperatures were varied at 20 °C intervals from 1120 to 1200 °C for multipurpose wall tile body and from 1140 to 1220 °C for multipurpose floor tile body. The physical and thermal properties of the fired bodies such as water absorption, linear firing shrinkage, bulk density and linear thermal expansion coefficient were measured. The vitrification behaviour of the multipurpose bodies was also evaluated using a double-beam optical non-contact dilatometer. Furthermore, the fired bodies were subjected to colour measurements. Particular consideration was given to the phase and microstructural evolution of the developed tile bodies. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to analyse the phases formed before and after firing. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in combination with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was further employed in order to observe the microstructural and microchemical characteristics of the fired bodies with respect to peak firing temperature. The preliminary experimental results showed that it was possible to obtain a multipurpose body with the properties in accordance with ISO-EN 10545.

Introduction

Ceramic tiles are commonly produced from a mixture of raw materials containing clay, flux, and refractory filler. Each raw material within the body formulation contributes differently to the final properties. A broad range of products varying in dimensions, dimensional tolerance, strength, apparent porosity, surface texture, decorative coatings, and overall quality are produced by the tiles industry. Since tile have high ratio of surface area to thickness, manufacturing process should be capable of achieving this shape in a highly productive manner. This type of tiles is usually obtained by wet grinding, dry pressing, fast drying and fast firing at suitable temperatures. Understanding and control of process steps in tile production has greatly improved within the recent years. In the relevant literature, several directions for further improvements have been mentioned. Among these directions: achieving better dimensional control, which is particularly more demanding for larger tiles, obtaining green granules with improved characteristics through dry preparation process, which is expected to enable lower running and production costs, and effective use of processing additives for improving process performance can be mentioned as important ones.1 Moreover, the new research + development + innovation (R + D + I) lines, particularly relating to porcelain tile manufacturing technology, have also been suggested in areas such as in-press tile decoration and forming methods.2

Apart from the directions mentioned above, development of a multipurpose ceramic composite body suitable for both wall and floor tile production has already been reported. A monoporosa body composition cannot be fired at a higher temperature in order to obtain a vitrified product due to its rapid and uncontrolled melting. Moreover, a vitrified body cannot be properly used as wall tile, because its high firing shrinkage results in different sizes. On the other hand, a multipurpose body can fulfil the dimensional and mechanical requirements of both wall and floor tile through production in the same line. It has also been emphasized that the potential of such a body should be considered beyond its plant flexibility contribution, which improves the finished product quality, thus increasing profits, with the obvious possibility of improving the entire tile industry.3

There are around 22 ceramic tile manufacturing plants in Turkey and in 2003 these plants produced nearly 190 million square meters of tiles. Eight-four million square meters of this production was exported, which makes Turkey the fifth biggest exporter of the world.4 Considering the expectation that the Turkish tile sector continues to expand, further studies both on the improvement and the development of tile formulations, mainly from the local raw materials, are necessary in order to make the producers advantaged in the world market while maintaining the capital and running costs at reasonably competitive levels as well. Keeping this in mind, the present study, which is a part of an extended research program, was designed in two sections: the first part involved developing a multipurpose tile body using a single formulation; the second part focused on firing behaviour of the multipurpose tile body in relation to its technological properties. A particular interest was given to crystalline phase and microstructural evolution upon firing. Glazing issue was, however, ignored in this part of the research program.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

The main raw materials employed to prepare the various formulations in this study are sodium feldspar from Cine region of Aydın/Turkey, two different pegmatites from Sogut region of Bilecik/Turkey, two different ball clays, one from Sile region of Istanbul/Turkey, and the other from Ukraine, and marble and magnesite from Eskisehir/Turkey. It is well known that characteristics of the raw materials used to prepare ceramic bodies considerably affect the ultimate product quality. In this respect,

Physical and thermal properties

Table 5 gives the particle size distributions of the multipurpose wall and tile bodies, obtained by wet sieve analysis. Furthermore, Table 6 presents some of the important properties of the investigated bodies fired at the relevant peak firing temperatures under industrial conditions in the first part of the study. A comparison of the standard wall and floor tile bodies with the multipurpose tile bodies was made according to the main technological properties measured. The L*-value (lightness)

Conclusions

As a result of the preparation of a series of body formulations at different sieve residues mainly from local raw materials and firing over a range of peak temperatures, a multipurpose body was produced, almost fulfilling the requirements of both wall and floor tiles in accordance with ISO-EN 10545. In particular, the sieve residues of 3.0% for the floor tile and 5.5% for the wall tile were close to the industrial ideal for a multipurpose body.

The vitrification behaviour of the multipurpose

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