Dongkuk CM Files Patents for Two ‘Dual Stone’ Products
Replacing Marble With Recyclable Steel Material, Zero Processing Dust
Dongkuk CM, a member of the Dongkuk Steel Group, announced that it has developed the world’s first ‘Dual Stone’ technology, which simultaneously reproduces the same texture and realistic design as natural materials such as natural stone.
The new products featuring the Dual Stone technology come in two types, ‘Double Stone’ and ‘Marble Stone,’ both currently pending patents. Double Stone reproduces the natural texture and surface color of stone itself, while Marble Stone reproduces the rough feel of stone-powder particles along with the surface design. The significance of this new technology lies in overcoming the limitations of steel-sheet surface treatment. Because conventional color-coated steel is painted on the surface with rollers, it was difficult to create pressure variations across different areas, which limited the expression of graduated textures; in addition, the fixed length of the rollers meant short repeating patterns that gave a strong artificial impression. Dual Stone technology is differentiated by Dongkuk CM’s own proprietary surface-treatment technology, which expresses deep, realistic composite textures on par with natural materials, and by adding Dongkuk CM’s exclusive digital printing technology, which extends the pattern length from the conventional level of about 1m up to a maximum of 10m, maximizing a natural appearance. When Dongkuk CM’s high-corrosion-resistant coated steel sheets (GIX·GLX) are used, quality can be maintained without discoloration or wear for up to 30 years even under extreme heat or heavy snowfall.
This technological development is expected to diversify the range of choices for consumers in the building-materials market. Dongkuk CM hopes to establish itself in the market as an eco-friendly steel material with high replacement potential—a recyclable steel material that involves no artificial quarrying process and generates no silica (fine crystalline dust) during processing. In fact, Dongkuk CM’s wood-grain color-coated steel, being strong against fire and corrosion, is seeing continuously increasing use as an exterior building material.
Choi Woo-chan, head of Dongkuk CM’s Technology Research Institute, said, “This is a high-value-added specialty product that can replace expensive natural building materials, and it is a technology possible only in Korea, nowhere else in the world,” adding, “We expect it to grow into a competitive product capable of overcoming tariff barriers and market slowdowns.”
Dongkuk CM has completed all product-quality testing and is currently in final discussions with customers based in the United States and Europe on producing prototypes applying the new Dual Stone technology.