The Ceramic Materials Manufacturers Association (CMMA) together with the VNIISTROM (Budnikov Russian National Scientific Research Institute of Engineering Materials and Constructions) since the beginning of the year have been working to reconsider the existing standards for ceramic tiles and test methods.
Today we can confidently say that this work has been accomplished and was supported by all leading Russian manufacturers, who are interested in growth of Russian market and have long-term plans for exporting their products to the countries of Russia’s neighboring states and far abroad.
The regular workshop of the Ceramic Materials Manufacturers Association (CMMA) on reviewing the standards for ceramic tiles and test methods was held on September 19 in Moscow, where specialists of both quality control and commercial departments took part, as well as senior managers of companies and factories.
Galina Dudenkova, the head of Ceramics Scientific Center (VNIISTROM), spoke about the changes and add-ons, identified the main problem points of the designed drafts.
Albert Popov, the head of CMMA, informed the meeting attendees about the current procedure for draft approval through Technical Committee 144 “Building Materials and Products”. He reported on preparation of comments summary concerning two of the four revised standards, which will reflect all proposals of the working group members, that is, these standards by the second edition should be acceptable for perspective use, convenient for both the manufacturer and the consumers.
Enrico Herschmann, the development director of KERAMA MARAZZI, urged to preserve the European approach to standardization and the most advanced trends in global standardization. After all, the issues of global competition already make manufacturers look beyond the horizons of the Russian market, and even beyond the countries of the near abroad.
Individual test methods were also discussed. The participants were split down the middle on the issue of choosing a method for determining water absorption for the purposes of product classification: the traditionally used boiling method, as well as the vacuum method used in the EU and in the world, have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, boiling methods, outdated and unused in practice, and on the other hand – high cost of measuring device and lack of its analogues on the Russian market, as well as the issue of including this device in the State Register of measuring instruments and the need for periodic verification. In the case of orientation towards export directions, the producer will have to use the vacuum method, and then the existing classification at the enterprise can be reconsidered.
The offered classification of wear-resistance properties of glazed tiles, identical to the European standardization, was generally understood, but it aroused a reaction among a number of participants, since a perspective is clear: either a decrease in wear-out rate, or use of glaze (frits), providing wear-out rate without visible changes at the number of plates revolutions 2100...12000. At the same time, the widely spread practice of using imported glazed tiles in the area, where high wear-resistance properties are required, makes Russian manufacturers bring these requirements into accordance.
The workshop participants have not yet developed a unified approach to the method of measuring slip resistance, so the developer included three methods into the draft, each having certain features. For example, it’s known that the inclined plane method is used by at least one Russian manufacturer. Several companies use American equipment that knows no equals in Russia and is not included into the State Register of measuring instruments, therefore, standardization for these devices will be rather complicated. Representatives of several manufacturers of the Central Federal District and the Volga Region told about their practice in performing tests on this indicator.
The working group collects proposals on the results of this meeting for preparing editorial standards. On all controversial issues the Ceramics Scientific Center of VNIISTROM will act as coordinator for obtaining the new quality of standards that will take into account the current trends of European and global standardization in tiles.