New types of modern tiles
Ceramic tile became more popular as technology improved the firing process. At first, kilns were long tunnels with low heat, and tiles moved on rails slowly through. Painting and then re-firing the tiles became popular because it seriously improved the strength of the tiles.
Then came the invention of roller kilns with much higher temperatures and shorter cycles for firing. These increased temperatures shortened the manufacturing process, which made the entire industry more efficient.
Red body clay tiles and white body feldspar tiles were mass produced and readily available—and their strength attests to the fact that many are still around today!
The late 20th century was when Italians developed the modern porcelain tile. Porcelain can remain stable through freezes and their subsequent thaws because their water absorption is less than 0.5%. They are strong enough to be used on space shuttles, where other materials would burn during re-entry.
The latest tile technology allows for the entire tile to be the same color, not just the surface. This prevents the development of wear patterns that let the tile show its base color.
They involve no glaze, so the color is permanent. Tiles can be silk-screened and digitally inked to mimic photographs. They can be made in ever-larger sizes, ever-smaller sizes, and ever more colors.
While Italy remains the leading manufacturer of tile, many other countries are starting to give them a run for their money. Mexico, China, Brazil, Turkey and Spain are all major players in the industry.
However, most of their manufacturing equipment comes from Italy, so it appears the grip the Italians have on the industry may be around for a while.
When the tiles are being produced in larger size like 600mm x 600mm, 800mm x 800mm or even bigger. The next question is the adhesiveness of the tile grout.
For the past years, the tile installers had used to lay the tile with Ordinary Portland cement but which is not suitable to install for large sized tiles due to low adhesiveness of the OPC. Where a higher expectation for the higher adhesiveness tile grout is needed.
