Printed Clay Mug
4.s43 Thermal Performance in Architectural Enclosures, MIT, Spring 2024
In collboration with Aisha Cheema & Thomas King.
Instructed by Caitlin Mueller, Les Nordford, and Eduardo (Edu) Gascón Alvarez.
The project aims to understand the thermal performance of thermal mass facade by designing, fabricating, and observing the heat transfer of a clay mug. The mug optimizes its thermal performance by maximizing the heat capacity and R-value while minimizing its embodied carbon by reducing the structural mass of the mug.
After an initial simulation, the form of the mug was optimized, and a correponding g-code script was generated in Grasshopper to prepare for 3D printing the mug. The mug was fabricated with extruded clay via KUKA robotic arm.