Artificial stone
Encyclopedia
Artificial stone is a name for various kinds of synthetic stone products used from the 18th century onward. They have been used in building construction, civil engineering work, and industrial uses such as grindstones.
One of the earliest was Lithodipyra (aka
Coade stone
), a ceramic
created by Eleanor Coade
(1733–1821), and produced from 1769 to 1833. Later, in 1844, Frederick Ransome
created a Patent Siliceous Stone, which comprised sand and powdered flint in an alkaline solution. By heating it in an enclosed high temperature steam boiler the siliceous particles were bound together and could be moulded or worked into filtering slabs, vases, tombstones, decorative architectural work, emery wheels and grindstones.
This was followed by Victoria stone, which comprises finely-crushed Mountsorrel
(Leicestershire
) granite
and Portland cement
, carefully mixed by machinery in the proportions of three to one and cast in moulds of the required shape. When the blocks are set hard the moulds are loosened and the blocks placed in a solution of silicate of soda for about two weeks for the purpose of indurating and hardening them. Many manufacturers turn out a material that is practically non-porous and is able effectually to resist the corroding influence of sea air
or the impure atmosphere of large towns.
Most later types of artificial stone have consisted of fine cement
concrete
placed to set in wooden or iron moulds. It could be made more cheaply and more uniform than natural stone, and was widely used. In engineering projects, it had the advantage that transporting the bulk materials and casting them near the place of use was cheaper than transporting very large pieces of stone.
Modern Cast stone
is an architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications. Cast stone is a masonry product, used as an architectural feature, trim, ornament or facing for buildings or other structures. Cast stone can be made from white and/or grey cements, manufactured or natural sands, carefully selected crushed stone
or well graded natural gravels and mineral coloring pigments to achieve the desired colour and appearance while maintaining durable physical properties which exceed most natural cut building stones. Cast stone is an excellent replacement for natural cut limestone
, brownstone
, sandstone
, bluestone
, granite
, slate
, coral
rock, travertine
and other natural building stones.
Artificial Marble and Engineered Stone Quartz in Guangdong, Shanghai and Fujian.
Also known as engineered stone, artificial marble is mixed with marble powder, resin and pigment, and then cast using the vacuum oscillation to form the block. Cutting, calibration, grinding and polishing are then done to output the slabs. Some factories have developed a special low-viscosity, high strength polyster resin, with which the mould-pressing artificial marble has high hardness, strength, good gloss, low water absorption, wear resistance, to meet exporting demand.
The processing of engineered stone quartz is quite similar to artificial marble, the difference is the use of different filler which is high wear-resistant quartz sand and quartz powder, about 90% filler content.Moths hardness of up to 7 anti-scratch, and its properties of stain, water and fire resistance will probably make this material as the most popular artificial stone in the future. Engineered stone quartz is widely used in Australia, Canada and the United States for kitchen countertop, bathroom vanitytop, window sills, bar top and floor and wall covering.
One of the earliest was Lithodipyra (aka
Aka
A.K.A., AKA, a.k.a., aka, or a/k/a may refer to:*"Also known as", used to introduce pseudonyms, aliases, nicknames, working names, legalized names, pen names, maiden names, etc.-Media:*AKA , a 2002 film...
Coade stone
Coade stone
Lithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
), a ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
created by Eleanor Coade
Eleanor Coade
Eleanor Coade was a devout Baptist and remained unmarried until her death on 16 November 1821 in Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London. Her obituary notice was published in The Gentleman's Magazine which declared her ‘the sole inventor and proprietor of an art which deserves considerable notice’...
(1733–1821), and produced from 1769 to 1833. Later, in 1844, Frederick Ransome
Frederick Ransome
Frederick Ransome was a British inventor and industrialist, creator of Ransome's artificial stone.Frederick was the son of James Ransome, 1782-1849, a member of the Ransomes steel and agricultural equipment-making family of Ipswich....
created a Patent Siliceous Stone, which comprised sand and powdered flint in an alkaline solution. By heating it in an enclosed high temperature steam boiler the siliceous particles were bound together and could be moulded or worked into filtering slabs, vases, tombstones, decorative architectural work, emery wheels and grindstones.
This was followed by Victoria stone, which comprises finely-crushed Mountsorrel
Mountsorrel
Mountsorrel is a village in Leicestershire on the River Soar, just south of Loughborough with a population in 2001 of 6,662 inhabitants.-Geography:...
(Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
) granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and Portland cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
, carefully mixed by machinery in the proportions of three to one and cast in moulds of the required shape. When the blocks are set hard the moulds are loosened and the blocks placed in a solution of silicate of soda for about two weeks for the purpose of indurating and hardening them. Many manufacturers turn out a material that is practically non-porous and is able effectually to resist the corroding influence of sea air
Sea air
The air at or by the sea is traditionally thought to be healthy. This was variously attributed to iodine or ozone but its cleanliness or salt may be more significant....
or the impure atmosphere of large towns.
Most later types of artificial stone have consisted of fine cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
placed to set in wooden or iron moulds. It could be made more cheaply and more uniform than natural stone, and was widely used. In engineering projects, it had the advantage that transporting the bulk materials and casting them near the place of use was cheaper than transporting very large pieces of stone.
Modern Cast stone
Cast stone
Cast stone is defined as “a refined architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications”. In the UK and Europe cast stone is defined as “any material manufactured with aggregate and cementitious binder, intended to resemble in...
is an architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications. Cast stone is a masonry product, used as an architectural feature, trim, ornament or facing for buildings or other structures. Cast stone can be made from white and/or grey cements, manufactured or natural sands, carefully selected crushed stone
Crushed stone
Crushed stone or angular rock is a form of construction aggregate, typically produced by mining a suitable rock deposit and breaking the removed rock down to the desired size using crushers...
or well graded natural gravels and mineral coloring pigments to achieve the desired colour and appearance while maintaining durable physical properties which exceed most natural cut building stones. Cast stone is an excellent replacement for natural cut limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, brownstone
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
, sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, bluestone
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
rock, travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
and other natural building stones.
China
The artificial stone industry is mainly concentrated in Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places. Due to natural sources of Stone becoming less and less, and the punishment of the blind extraction, artificial stone has seen a strong demand in Guangdong and Xiamen.Artificial Marble and Engineered Stone Quartz in Guangdong, Shanghai and Fujian.
Also known as engineered stone, artificial marble is mixed with marble powder, resin and pigment, and then cast using the vacuum oscillation to form the block. Cutting, calibration, grinding and polishing are then done to output the slabs. Some factories have developed a special low-viscosity, high strength polyster resin, with which the mould-pressing artificial marble has high hardness, strength, good gloss, low water absorption, wear resistance, to meet exporting demand.
The processing of engineered stone quartz is quite similar to artificial marble, the difference is the use of different filler which is high wear-resistant quartz sand and quartz powder, about 90% filler content.Moths hardness of up to 7 anti-scratch, and its properties of stain, water and fire resistance will probably make this material as the most popular artificial stone in the future. Engineered stone quartz is widely used in Australia, Canada and the United States for kitchen countertop, bathroom vanitytop, window sills, bar top and floor and wall covering.