Established in May 2002, Cermalab is the largest materials testing and materials sector training laboratory in Southern Africa.

Cermalab serves the heavy clay, ceramic and refractories industries across Africa and is accredited by the South African National Accreditation agency. 

In May 2011, Cermalab established the Tile Adhesive testing laboratory and became the first independent tester of tile adhesives in South Africa.

Based at 33 Eland Road, Koedoespoort Industrial, in Pretoria, Cermalab offers a range of services and products dedicated to improving quality, competitiveness and profitability of suppliers, manufacturers and users in the ceramics market. 

The company offers its services on a contract basis and its experienced professionals are involved in all aspects of materials testing, process technology improvement and the evaluation of final products according to specified standards. 

Services:

Heavy Clay Services

Full clay investigation

• Chemical analysis 
• Mineralogical analysis 
• Preparation of samples
• Forming properties, drying properties, fired properties, plasticity
• Particle size distribution
• Differential thermal analysis 
• Thermogravimetric analysis 
• Thermal expansion

Final product testing

• Testing of burnt clay masonry units according to South African National Standards (SANS) 227 and SANS 1575

Refractory Services

Physical Tests

• Apparent porosity, total porosity, bulk density, specific gravity 
• Cold crushing strength 
• Bulk density and apparent porosity
• Modulus of rupture 
• Tensile strength
• Moisture content
• Particle size distribution 
• Permeability

Thermal Tests

• Hot modulus of rupture (1 500ºC)
• Thermal analysis (1 600ºC)
• Loss on ignition 
• Permanent linear change 
• Sinter-probe evaluation
• Slag pot test to 1 500ºC
• Thermal shock resistance

Chemical Testing

• Acid resistance
• Chemical analysis 
• Carbon analysis
• Mineralogical analysis 
• Photomicroscopy
• Scanning electron microscopy and EDX analysis

Tile and Tile Adhesive Testing

• Tensile adhesion strength of cementitious adhesives
• Tests for ceramic tiles 
• Moisture expansion 
• Chemical resistance 
• Stain resistance
• Modulus of rupture 
• Water absorption
• Glaze crazing
• Moh’s hardness and scratch resistance