Tripetalous 3D Printed Ceramic Tiling

This project was created as a course assignment at the California State University, Long Beach; taught by Behnaz Farahi: DESN 551: Materials, Tools, and Techniques of Prototype.

In this mini-project, our objective was to explore the interaction of individual units capable of forming a cohesive tiling system.

Team Members: Bea, Alea, Tristan

Fusion, SolidWorks, Cura, 3D PotterBot 10 Micro

We took the initiative to experiment with our 3D printer to see what we could come up with, as well as get familiar with this new form of 3d printing. Before we even started coming up with ideas for the module, we spent weeks pushing the boundaries of what we could do with the printer.

To say it was a frustrating experience is an understatement, as there were so many things to consider—Everything from loading the clay tube correctly to getting clay texture and soaking times right, pushing the limits of what we could and could not create, playing around with drips, loops, geometries, and more, were all apart of the process to create our model. However, it was an equally rewarding experience, as it was so much more satisfying when our projects came out perfect.

We played around with many concepts and ideas before we settled on the tripetalous model. There were two main concepts that we were deciding between; a structured, hexagon module or a natural, organic module. While we liked the hexagon concept, eventually settled on the organic module because of the way it aggregated together.

Our original module went through a lot of change before we ended up on the final project. One of the main concepts we were trying to include in our design was how the pieces connect. We tried coming up with hinges, puzzle piece-type concepts, and intersecting sides or edges that fit together to provide structure. Ultimately, we went with the side-fitting concept, as we felt it aggregated the best.

In the end, our group was very happy with the way with the way our module came out. We finally decided on a petal-inspired module, that aggregated together in a flower-like way. We also came up with multiple concepts on how they would fit together, and we discovered that a circle of 6 fit together the best.

Our project has much potential outside of being just a simple clay module. For example, the forms aggregated together could be built to be the facade of a building or a unique wall installation. Or when enlarged, could be connected together to create a space where plants could grow. They could even be further developed to create artificial coral reefs, to help rebuild and support marine life.