Methodology to control the influence of processing factors during composite stone fabrication

Composite stone is made of crushed materials bound by a polymer resin. A design of experimental techniques was used to evaluate the influence of factors (resin type, use of adhesion promoter, compaction pressure, vibration duration, use of a vacuum, and cure program) on the manufacturing of composite stone. The response variable was flexural strength. A 2IV6-2 fractional factorial design with five replications was initially used, which showed that resin type, use of adhesion promoter, and a cure program were factors of significant influence, as well as the interaction between them and the interaction between the resin type and the use of adhesion promoter. The data was re-arranged into a full 23 factorial design with ten replications to calculate the influence of these factors. The lack of influence of the other factors suggests that lower pressures should be used to improve the process by employing the surface response methodology.