Encaustic Tiles – Technical Properties.
Encaustic tiles are handmade, plastic – pressed products. There is no official standard for tiles of this type, but properties are similar to those of vitrified floor and quarry tiles. Certain properties relating to performance in service include: -
Water Absorption: Generally not exceeding 3.0 per cent. Test Method BS 6431: part 11 (EN99).
Abrasive Wear Index: Recorded values 117 and 78, minimum requirement for quarry tile is 35. Test Method BS 6431: part 12 (EN100).
Flexural Strength: Typical values for Coefficient of Friction when measured in accordance with the method described in J. Phys, Vol. 12, 1979 are:
Type of Slider Coefficient of Friction
Dry Wet
Slow Slow Slow
Soft Rubber 1.65 0.90 0.98
Leather 0.82 0.76 0.67
Hard Rubber 0.76 0.71 0.69
Values 0.40 – 0.50 are considered ‘adequate’.
0.50 – 0.75 are considered ‘good’.
Frost Resistance: Satisfy the requirement of BS 6431: part 22 (EN202), and are suitable for internal and external use.
Geometric Tiles - Technical Properties
Unglazed floor tiles manufactured by Maw & Co., are precision cut to produce the geometric range of floor tiles. The unglazed floor tiles used for this range are manufactured under a BS 5750 Quality Assurance system.
Certain Physical properties relating to geometric floor tiles include:
Water Absorption: Maximum 3%
Test Method BS 6432: part 11 (EN99)
NB due to the high stain addition required to
achieve certain colours, the water absorption
may vary between 1 and 5%.
Modulus Rupture: Typical values 55 N/mm2
Test Method BS 6431: part 12 (EN100) PASS
Chemical Resistance: No visible effect
Test Method BS 6431: part 18 (EN106) PASS
Resistance to Frost: No visible effect
Test Method BS 6431: part 22 (EN202) PASS
Reference
1 British Standard BS 6431: part 6 1984 EN 176 Dust – pressed ceramic tiles with a low absorption (E – 3%). Group B1.
