Engineered stone
For engineered marbles the most common application is indoor flooring and walls, while the quartz based product is used primarily for kitchen countertops[2] as an alternative to laminate or granite.
Unlike terrazzo, the material is factory made in either blocks or slabs, cut and polished by fabricators, and assembled at the worksite.
[citation needed] Although Breton was the original manufacturer of moulding equipment and still holds multiple international patents on the process, there are now several other companies producing similar machinery.
99.9% pure silica in grits and powder form constitutes 90–93% of the body by weight dispersed in a matrix of unsaturated polyester resin (7–10%) mixed with peroxide catalyst and cobalt accelerator which facilitates the curing of the thermoset at ambient temperature.
The cured material is normally kept for 24–48 hours before polishing and finishing absorbers are also dosed into the chemical mix to inhibit the discoloration as a result of reaction of unsaturated polyester resin with UV light.
Engineered quartz stones manufactured by using unsaturated polyester resins are characterized by low water absorption, superior chemical durability, high hardness, flexural strength and good thermal shock resistance compared to granite and marble.
[5] Compaction by vibrocompression vacuum process uses elastomeric molds in which a crushed stone/resin mix is cast on a moving belt.
Additionally, agglomerate stone tiles are more sensitive to both thermal expansion and contraction and to dampness from underlying screeds, necessitating the inclusion of movement joints at a higher frequency than for stone or ceramic floor tiles (see for example British Standard BS 5385-5: 2011) and verification by testing of the dryness of underlying layers.
Although both the marble- and quartz-based engineered stones are created through a similar process, and multiple companies produce both at the same time, there are distinct differences in their properties and applications.
[14] In Western Australia, legislation was introduced to support the early detection of silicosis caused by engineered stone.
[15] Medical practitioners in Western Australia are advised to follow strict guidelines for the health surveillance of at risk workers.
[17] In December of the same year, Australia became the first country to announce a ban of engineered stone in response to workers developing silicosis.
Inspections by safety officials in 2019 and 2020 showed that 72% of these shops were out of compliance with federal silica dust exposure standards.
