COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF AGGLOMERATED AND NATURAL STONES
Comparative study between technological properties of agglomerated ans natural stones
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5016/geociencias.v39i04.14665Abstract
Brazil is the fifth largest producer of ornamental stones in the world. However, in recent years the import and production of agglomerated stones has grown in the country, and such material has already become the biggest competitor of natural stones in civil construction. Despite this growing consumption, most of the time the specifiers and final consumer do not have proper knowledge about the technological properties of this artificial material, turning its application empirical and may cause degradations depending on the use. On the other hand, there is a feeling in the market that agglomerated have superior durability to natural stones, without any scientific basis. The objective of this work was to determine and compare the petrographic properties and the technological behavior of four agglomerated and two natural stones with different mineralogical and textural aspects, aiming the establishment of parameters capable of explaining and/or predicting the physical-mechanical and chemical performance of these materials when in use. The technological results reveal that both the agglomerated and the natural stones presented satisfactory performance, qualifying them for ornamental and covering purposes. However, for the physical indices, one of the quartzites performed better than one of the artificial materials.