| Abstract [eng] |
This project focuses on the mechanical and sanitary properties of cast artificial stone. To create a artificial cast stone product of the desired shape and design, a thermoforming process is applied in which artificial cast stone parts can be shaped by means of heavy presses, forms and bending templates at specific temperatures. Based on experimental studies, the most suitable temperature for thermoforming monochromatic and patterned cast stone is 160 C. At this temperature, the material has the lowest bending resistance and does not react strongly to heat. It was also observed, by varying the distance between the bending supports, that the cast stone bends more easily as the distance increases. The aim of this study was to improve the thermoforming process for monochromatic and patterned cast stone. The bending test of bonded artificial cast stone specimens allowed to find out which of the three different bonding methods is the most resistant to the forces applied during bending. The results of this study allow the selection of the appropriate method to produce a mechanically robust product. In the microbiological study, suspensions of three different bacteria were spread on 200 cm2 of stainless steel, laminated particleboard and artificial cast stone and washes were taken from 100 cm2 after 25 minutes. The remaining 100 cm2 was washed with a sterile damp cloth and swabbed. The logarithmic mean of the bacterial content on the surface of each material was derived from the analysis of the samples. The results showed that the artificial stone had the lowest lg CFU/cm2 after washing. This project evaluated the possibility of automating the grinding and polishing process of artificial cast stone. A proposal was made for the installation of a surface grinding machine with software control is presented. This machine would increase the production capacity and reduce the consumption of abrasive paper. It would also reduce the number of occupational diseases by eliminating the contact with artificial cast stone dust that is released during sanding. This project also compared the positive and negative properties of the materials used in the microbiological study for the design of the kitchen worktop. A SWOT analysis was carried out to define the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and threats of these materials. |
