09/01/2023

UIC Barcelona School of Architecture lecturers Alberto T. Estévez and Yomna K. Abdallah publish an article on biodigital and elastic clay bricks

UIC Barcelona School of Architecture lecturers Alberto T. Estévez and Yomna K. Abdallah have published the article titled “The New Standard is Biodigital: Durable and Elastic 3D-Printed Biodigital Clay Bricks” (“El nuevo estándar es biodigital: ladrillos de cerámica biodigitales impresos en 3D duraderos y elásticos”) in Biomimetics. 

The article deals with design and digital manufacturing of clay bricks with 3D printers, which can only be conceived and achieved with current digital media. The article includes technical data from stress and resistance tests carried out on the prototypes of clay brick having specific elasticity properties. 

Compression and elasticity were tested and compared to standard industrial clay brick models. The study does not intend to prove the structural efficiency of the material (clay), but rather the structural form. 

Brick shapes were achieved using reaction-diffusion behaviour algorithms and the hydrophilic behaviours of clay (which readily absorbs water), and 3D printing to create more sustainable clay bricks. 

Sustainability was present in their production processes, in aspects such as passive cooling, thermal and acoustical insulation, and bio-receptivity.

This research project aims to change the conventional methods of design and mass production of clay bricks. And their elasticity properties would make them useful for architecture in areas affected by earthquakes and earth movements, where until now, only the use of reinforced masonry has been possible.