DSN S 546 DIGITAL CLAY YANJIU BAI_To Public_(Compressed)

DSN S 546 DIGITAL CLAY YANJIU BAI

01 GESTURE & ROTATION

Hybrid Expriment for Fabrication & Design

The Gesture and Rotation is a hybrid fabrication process for making rollers to produce different tiles patterns. The project explores the different processes of design thinking and fabrication. The design process explores traditional handcraft and digital fabrication that use a 3D printer to produce rollers. Design thinking involves the result-oriented of designing patterns through hand drawing and the parametric design-oriented of designing rollers to explore possible patterns. The project is the design of the pattern of tiles and the process to experience the different designs and fabrication for exploring possible workflow and potential.

Making tiles patterns by the rolling tool are more related to the handcraft. However, the rollers of patterns are produced by a 3D printer. Because PLA makes rollers, it needs more skill and experience to find the right way for avoiding clay to stick on the roller.

Cut edge and take out the tile from mould

Wait clay to dray (around 2 days)

Fire In Kilns

The project discusses using digital fabrication to produce rollers to create tiles. I consider both handcraft feeling and digital fabrication identity cases to inspire flow and continuity for the roller tools. The interior artistic relief tiles show interesting flow. The similar subtle repetition and handcraft feeling create rhythmic change. The digital fabrication pattern brings virtual materiality, which mimics the identities of waving fabric. The pattern creat continuity indirectly, and the rhythmic flow through the visual interpretation.

There are two types of design strategies. The first one is more emphasis on the result of the pattern. The roller will come out from the accurate pattern. The design process is controllable and the result pattern-oriented. The second one is the parametric design logic. It is based on digital modeling and emphasis exploring the form of a roller. The design

process focused more on the section and generating the roller based on different vertical direction algorithms. The result of the pattern becomes less certain and more exploration through the way of using a roller.

After making texture on the tiles by rolling, I also try to reform the shape of tiles. I used a CNC router to make a double curve surface to reform tiles. However, the CNC machine only can cut 2-inch depth, so the change of height is not enough to create interesting double curve tiles.

Reform Clay (Before Getting Dry)

Then, I try the single curve using the PVC pipe. Tiles can reform by the pipe and create an interesting shap.

Reform Clay (Before Getting Dry)

02 IMPRESS & CUTTER

Hybrid Expriment for Fabrication & Design

The project uses a digital fabrication tool, Formlab, to make stamps and use stamps to create a different tiles pattern. Through using stamps, the project tries to explore the composition of patterns. Also, it discusses shifting the push to cutter the tiles and make puncture patterns.

CLAY

01-Put Clay in the Frame

The fabrication process is similar to the rolling tools. The only difference is the Formlab, resin printer, using resin, and the resin is less sticking with the clay. So, it is relatively easy to fabricate compared with rolling tools.

04-Cutting Edge and Take Out from Frame

01- Rolling Pin (for at clay in the mould)

02- Mould for Tile

03- Stamp (made by 3D printer or resin printer)

04- Exacto Knife (for releasing tile form mould)

05- Clay for Making Tiles

02-Flat the Clay Tile

03-Stamping the Tile 05-Waitting

06-Fire in the Kiln

There are two cases for exploring stamps ideas. The first one is the movable type. Stamps can have different combinations to create various textures. The second one is cookie cutter. Shifting push to cut gives an interesting pattern for the remaining negative space.

The initial pattern extracts the elements of drawing patterns. The pattern creates interesting figures in the negative space.

The first design iteration uses the figure, ground, and mirror to create a new pattern of stamps. The new stamps have more surface area, which causes the stamp to be hard to take out from the clay.

Negative space create interesting gure

Hard to make a clear grid

Tolerance Problem

Need more tolerance extra clay push to side

Hard to stamp need to push and shake more

Strong shadow and contrast

The combination of four stamps creates a lot of potentials. Instead of following the grid, overlapping ping stamps create interesting depth and flow. Also, stamps could flow the flow of figures to create interesting patterns.

The second design inspires the pattern of combination and shifts the stamp’s pattern. The whole stamps become a sandwich way to compress clay for getting hollow patterns. The double also changes the interesting form of tiles.

The second design deconstructs the initial mold. So, the first step is using different “Cuter” to make whole in the flat tiles. Then, use the double curve surface to reshape the tile.

The project used the Brent Die Hand Extruder to fabricate different clay pipes. The design explores the controllable level of different section shapes. Also, it explores the possible combinations between clay pipe unites.In the process, the laser cutting fabricates the section of extrusion. For the Hand Extruder, it is a manual process but contains the computation logic to fabric clay pipes.

The Brent Die Hand Extruder needs a sequence to assemble the tool. During the process, it is better to have two people working together. The fabrication uses the extrusion idea to produce clay pipes. However, the manual process is hard to perfect the consistent quality of pipes. The good quality usually shows in the middle of the extruding process so the process will use a lot of clay. After getting the nice quality of pipes, people cut different angles and lengths of modules based on design purposes.

01- Assemble the Mould 02- Put Clay

04- Cutting Extrusion in Di erent Angles

Clay into the Extrusion Tool

03- Compress and Extrude Clay

05- Waiting for Dry

06- Fire in the Kiln

The extrusion of the Wave creates a good surface quality, but the Wave isn’t strong enough. Also, the middle part was broken because of strong pressure. The Gear creates interesting furry skin, and teeth are relatively identifiable. The middle part reduces the circle size, so the pressure reduces, and the middle part doesn’t break.

Broken by Pressure

The feeling of waving from Twist was not intense. The sharp corners cause the edges to become furry. The middle part was broken, so the middle part only shows half hollow. The Shift creates nice units, but the middle part was broken. Using a 3D printer, print the middle part to create more durable pieces. The new middle part can hold pressure and help produce nice thin units.

Broken in the Process

Broken By Pressure

3D Print ( .5“)

04 STAGGER & STACK

The project used the 3D Potterbot to create small-scale clay bricks. The design develops based on the idea of stagger and stack to explore several iteration designs through Rhino Grasshopper. The Potterbot uses the specific moisture clay to fill in the pipe. The pipe uses the C.N.C technology to extrude clay and produce a different design, challenging the traditional ceramic fabrication process.

3D Clay Potterbot - Clay Bricks

When people use 3D Potterbot, most of them only work on the interface to print designs. However, there are a lot of steps before starting to print. First, the Potterbot uses more moisture clay than clay for making tiles. Second, the pipe of Potterbot needs to use a plug mill to infill clay and manually compress the clay into the right position. Fourth, people need to assemble sequential parts into the pipe for the machine. The whole preparation process will take an hour.

01-Make Clay

04-Assemble All of Parts on the Pipe

I am a Clay!

02-In ll Clay into Pipe

03-Put Clay in Right Position and Install the Head

05-Put all the Machine and Check the Z Axis

06-Print and Clean Extra Clay

The first design is based on the form of point arches to consider stacking bricks. Through the reflection of load and structure, gradually iterate the design process.

The initial design gives nice support in the vertical direction, but the horizontal force causes the brick to be broken. The second design adds the extra arch against the horizontal force, but then the transition of vertical force is not strong. The third version adds structure to the middle to transfer load. The print results show that more intersect points will reduce the precise level of edge condition. Also, Rhino Grasshopper will generate the extra path for efficiency.

The second design use circles as elements to explore more curvature boundary between bricks. After confirming the relationship between bricks, other iterations explore more intersection relationships within the circle.

The second iteration becomes unstable when stacked using the circle’s surface. However, the vertical direction makes an interesting pattern of the surface.

05 GLAZING

Glazing Tiles and Bricks

Project five is a glazing process that applies ceramics techniques to digital fabricating productions. In the glazing process, it adds an extra color layer on the surface of the clay but also explores the potential way to interact with surface grain, texture, and patterns.

01-Blending Glazes 02-Dipping

Fully mix the deposit into the liquid so that the clay can glaze evenly.

Dip into the liquid for 2 to 3 seconds.

There are five steps for glazing after deciding the color to glaze on the clay surface. First, find the color to glaze and fully mix glazes to blend with liquid evenly. Second, dip the clay into a glaze with the surface that needs to glaze and leave the face attached to the kiln blank. Third, put it on the shelf to wait to dry. If you need to add the extra glaze on the previous glaze surface, the clay needs to wait for at least 45 minutes. The last step is to put the clay into the kiln and the surface without glazing touching the base.

03-Clean Extra Glaze

Clean the extra glaze on clay. Keep the side of the touching table clean so that the glaze won’t stick on the kiln's surface.

04-Waitting For Dry 05-Fire In Kilns

The second dipping needs to wait at least 45 minutes.

Second Dipping

The ring process has four rounds, and each round has a di erent temperature and hours.

RampIncrease/HourTemp. Hold Time

Ra 1100 180 F1 - 4 Hours

Ra 2150 208 F1 - 4 Hours

Ra 3300 1070 F5 minutes

Ra 4400 1900 F5 minutes

Alarm 1910 FPress Start

I used my early design to test out the two layers of glazing. The experimental purposes are to find consistent results of glazing and factors that affected the glazing. Some groups use the same form of clay bricks but use different ways to dip them into the glaze. So the form and gravity affect the glazing result.

06 ENTANCE OF IMAGINING

Frame one, Entrance of Imagining, explores the meaning and making process of artistic expression and computation logic through the craft of ceramic and Brent Die Hand Extruder. The design creates the abstract impression of flames for rising personal memories or imagination. The design uses abstract form, texture, and strokes to rise feelings and emotions. Meanwhile, although each piece is different, all parts are in the repetition and consistent frame. The whole work reflects the common and differences between individuals.

Frame 01 Ceremics in the Cabinet

01-Extrude Clay 02-Angular Cutting 03-Waiting for Dry

75° 60° 45° 30° 15° 8

01-Making a Cabinet

03-Clamping Frame and Base

01-Cutting Frames and Base

04-Sanding and Oiling

02-Making Joints and Gluing

04-Putting Together

03-Glazing Fired Clay

01-Blending Glazes

02-Dipping

03-Clean Extra Glaze

04-Fire In Kilns

01-Put Glue on the Corner02-Use Sawdust to Fill Gaps

03-Tight Joints

04-Connect the Base

05-Polish the Frame

04-Oil the Cabinet

The design starts from the computation logic. Using a simple triangle helps the extruder come out with consistent results and helps to later shape various forms. The double cover gives a harmonious overall height change. Then, each piece’s form was sculptured based on overall height rhythmically during the production process.

Extrude Pattern Intersect with Double Curves Cut Extrusion by Double Curves

There are two types of modules. Each type has three basic ways to reshape the form. Some of them use two ways to reshape the form.

There are two glazes. Each of them needs to dip two layers. For the Mag Yellow and LAV, the LAV needs to be set in glaze longer, or the result will be different from the example. Before and during glazing, bushing the wax to the surface or glaze can prevent glaze reaction with clay or glaze in the kiln. In the design, it creates beautiful strokes and layers on the surface.

1st. Dipping Mag Yellow

2nd. Dipping LAV

1st. Dipping Pink

2nd. Dipping TGM

I am WAX! :)

07 FABRICATION DIAGRAM

Frame 02

Introduction of Fabrications

These four drawings show our studio fabrication processes. It revises how we prepare and how do we cooperate with each phase. It also shows people who help us behind the results. The making frames credited to Brenna Fransen (making joints & Frames), Dai (Bill) Le (paint & assemble frames), and professor Shelby Doyle (polished description).

SHELBY

Drilling and Polishing

Painting

1st Layer

2nd Layer

08 ROBOTIC ARM TEST

Experiment of Robotic Arm

After experimenting with different fabrication for making tiles, we apply the stamping process to the robotic arm. We try to find what factors will affect the quality and consistency of stamping.

A robotic arm has six axes. The extra axes add more possibilities, but the complicated design and control process also adds. We used Grasshopper to generate g-code. The arm will follow the g-code to perform. We use the teaching mode to operate. We need to hold two buttons to keep the arm working. If the height is not right, we can release buttons and pause the arm.

The Wave stamp is non-planar. It considers whether all details can print on the clay when the stamp has different heights. The plastic wrap help to avoid grabbing clay by stamp, but it also reduces some of the details of patterns. Also, the clay has to be thicker than usual tiles to hold more pressure.

1st Test

6 mm thickness of clay

12 mm thickness of clay

2nd Test