In addition to the ordinary thickness, ceramic tile products include thin and thick unconventional products, commonly known as thin plates and thick tiles in the industry. In the short term, the market volume for thinned and thickened ceramic tiles is not too large, but the research and development and production of these products provide some possibilities for market expansion and extension of the ceramic tile industry. Therefore, it is worthy of discussion and research by people in the industry.
The voice and practice of thinning ceramic tiles has been around for a long time. Before 2003, there was a company in Zibo, Shandong Province that trial-produced thin porcelain plates with a specification of 850×3000mm and a thickness of 4 to 6mm. , its technical route is to use plastic mud balls to roll into plastic mud sheets, and then dry and fire them. However, due to the large size, large drying shrinkage, and high stress of the plastic clay sheets pressed by the rollers, they are very prone to deformation and cracking, and normal production cannot be achieved.
What has attracted industry attention and has public records is the national science and technology research project "Large-size ultra-thin architectural ceramic tile manufacturing technology and "Equipment Technology Research and Development" expert demonstration meeting was successfully held in Nanzhuang, Foshan. At that time, the large-size ultra-thin bricks demonstrated by experts were 1000×3000mm and only 3mm thick. The next day, "Nanfang Daily" reported that if this ultra-thin brick can successfully pass the pilot test, it will be mass-produced in two years ; The report also stated that group companies such as New Mingzhu Ceramics and Dongpeng Ceramics have expressed strong interest in this type of large-sized ultra-thin ceramic tiles and have made it clear that they will "research and develop ultra-thin tiles as pilot products."
Until April 21, 2007, Mona Lisa held a press conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to announce the large-scale porcelain thin plate (specification: 900×1800×5.5 mm) was born. At this point, China's ceramic tile industry has truly mature thin plate products.. According to the definition of the later national standard "Ceramic Plate" (GB/T23266--2009), "the thickness is not greater than 6mm and the upper surface area is not less than 1.62 square meters", so the industry calls products with a thickness of 6mm thin plates or Thin bricks.
In theory, thinning ceramic tiles is the right direction. Industry veterans estimate that based on the domestic annual production capacity of 10 billion square meters, all architectural ceramics companies using ceramic thinning technology to produce 5mm thick ceramic tiles will save 336 million tons of high-quality clay raw materials (approximately 1.38 billion cubic meters) every year. If Arranging these clay raw materials in 1 cubic meter can circle the earth 10 times; saving more than 75 million tons of standard coal, which would require 4.18 million 18-ton trucks to transport; and saving approximately 600 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, which is equivalent to Based on the power generation of the Three Gorges Dam in 7 years; the reduction of SO2 is about 1.75 million tons, which is equivalent to the SO2 emissions. After the product is thinned, it can adapt to the needs of various decorations. It can be used as a whole or cut and used. At the same time, because of its light weight, it greatly saves transportation costs and shows high comprehensive benefits. Due to product thinning and increased specifications, it can be expanded to decorative panels.
At the end of 2019, a ceramic tile company in Hubei launched a 3mm ceramic plate, which marked that China's ceramic thin plate manufacturing technology has truly reached the international leading level. Because the thinnest ceramic sheet that can be industrially mass-produced in the world is currently 3mm. The weight of the 3mm thick sheet will be relatively reduced, and it will be stronger and safer to be wet-attached to the wall. In addition, it is better to be used on various desktops and cabinet panels, and can partially replace the current various types of pressed wood boards, plywood, marble boards, granite boards, gypsum boards, stainless steel boards and other building decoration materials. It can be said that the application of the product will be further expanded.
In today's increasingly advanced technology, we might as well look forward romantically to the fact that 1mm or thinner ceramic tiles will be produced in the future. In fact, at the beginning of 2019, Fenxiang Ceramics announced that it had developed a small-sized ceramic tile sample with a thickness of 1mm. If companies cooperate with relevant scientific research institutions and continue to increase investment in research and development, it is entirely possible to expand the specifications of these products and achieve industrial production. This kind of ultra-thin ceramic tiles can not only cope with the upcoming domestic secondary decoration wave, but can be directly laid on the surface of the original ceramic tiles. Its application scope will be further expanded, such as: ceiling trays, lampshades, etc. in the lighting industry.
While ceramic sheets continue to become thinner and larger, there is also an undercurrent of thickening of ceramic tiles.
There are no clear regulations for thick tiles in the country and the industry. However, industry insiders follow the simplest and most direct product classification. All tiles that are thicker than conventional product thicknesses , are used to call it thick bricks. Specifically, the existing products in the industry are ceramic tiles with a thickness of more than 15mm. Early thick plates were mostly used in special places such as swimming pool edges and for dry hanging on exterior walls. Thick bricks are used for dry-hanging exterior walls. The main reason is that thick bricks are convenient for slotting and have high safety when installing dry-hanging metal fasteners. It is used in swimming pools and other places because thick bricks have high compressive and flexural strength and are not easily damaged when encountering strong external force collisions.
Weige is the most influential manufacturer of thick bricks in China. Many years ago, the company was well-known in the industry for producing thick bricks with a thickness of 20mm. Now it has gone further. Expand the product line and begin to enter products with a thickness of 30mm. At the same time, the number of thick brick manufacturers is also increasing. In the Fujian production area alone, more than a dozen companies have launched 20mm thick bricks, and the market sales and application scope of thick bricks have increased accordingly.
Foreign ceramic tile companies seem to be more interested in producing thick tiles. There are many companies producing tiles with a thickness of 40mm and 50mm, and even One company produces ceramic tiles with a thickness of 60mm, which are mainly used as horseshoe stones. They currently have three specifications: 100×100mm, 200×200mm, and 200×100mm.
The physical and chemical properties of ceramic tiles are better than those of stone. The compressive strength and flexural strength of ceramic tiles of the same thickness are much higher than that of stone, making them very suitable for use in outdoor public places such as squares. , can widely replace stone, so the application space of thick bricks has not been fully developed. With the advancement of ceramic tile production technology, the obstacles existing in the production process of thick bricks will gradually be solved, and the shrinkage of the traditional ceramic tile market will also prompt ceramic tile companies to find new market opportunities, and the market value of thick bricks will be gradually discovered. By then, it will be normal for domestic thick brick production to catch up with foreign countries.
(Written by Chen Zhaotian)
