3D printed ceramics:: Exploring the experiential material characteristics and the freedom of additive manufacturing

This master thesis is a graduation project of the master study Integrated Product Design at Delft University of Technology. It was executed in collaboration with the Material Experience Lab in the faculty Industrial Design Engineering. The project follows the Material Driven Design method by Elvin Karana. The material being researched is the Formlabs ceramic resin which was newly developed and has been on the market for approximately a year now. The Formlabs ceramic resin is a 3D printable ceramic material which uses photopolymerization to solidify the resin into objects. The material requires extra steps and experimenting and is now mostly used in educational and researching environments, because of the challenges it brings. These challenges mainly occur because not enough is known about the material and the way of use. However, the Formlabs material has a great potential of being more user friendly and easier to use than other 3D printable ceramic materials. This is because the material is made for the specific 3D printer allowing them to work together perfectly, increasing the ease of use and success rate. The main research question for this thesis is: Which technical and experiential material properties should be emphasized to create unique material-user experiences? The research started with understanding the material by executing user studies, technical tests and by conducting many tinkering experiments. The tinkering process was based on the information provided by Formlabs. These experiments and tests led to several insights which created a clear overview of unique and interesting material characteristics. User studies concluded that the material was perceived as rough and tactually offensive but as pure, inviting and aesthetically pleasing because of the mat white colour, translucency and lack of impurities, creating a sensorial incongruence. Some interesting directions came forth out of the tinkering phase and the user studies. It is possible to create controlled cracks in the walls of objects. Another interesting opportunity is the possibility to produce hidden Internal structures which play with the translucency of the material. This is possible because of the high precision 3D printing technique used. Lastly digitally modified surface textures can be created which alter the tactual experience of the material. The translucency of the material and the possibility of digitally modified surface textures were further explored during this project. It was concluded from user studies that people experienced textures inspired by nature as more tactually pleasing. Furthermore, the translucency of the material allows for light to add depth to the more dimensional textures making the experience even more pleasing. An envisioned material experience was formulated by combining the findings and insights from the tinkering process. The envisioned role of the material was to attract people and invite and encourage them to interact with the object by touching and holding the surface. The tactile stimulation experienced is pleasant because of the digitally modified surface texture. When interacting with the object a hidden feature becomes visible emphasizing the translucency of the material. This hidden feature will showcase the opportunities 3D printing of translucent ceramics brings. User studies and an ideation session was held in order to materialise and realise this envisioned experience. This ideation resulted in a design direction: Design a product set or a product made up out of different components, which initially look identical but become distinguishable when a hidden feature is unveiled, by emphasizing the material’s translucency. The final product concept came to be a interactive table lamp which encourages people to explore the effects of light on the material. The lamps has digitally modified surface textures which remove the original tactile offensiveness, creating a pleasant tactile experience. It is also made up out of different components which look identical until the lamp is turned on, unveiling hidden textures.