Clay Printing: The Fourth Generation Brickwork

The research described in this thesis focuses on the production and use of additive manufactured silicate ceramic (clay) products in construction. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a technology that facilitates realising products by selective placement of material in subsequent layers. It is a technology that emerged in the 1980’s and has been adopted by many industries for prototyping and the realisation of special or individualised products, which cannot be made by use of common production processes or benefit economically by the use of AM. The research shows a broad overview of AM for clay. It describes the evolution of brickmaking, how clay building products can benefit from an AM process, which production process could meet the defined demands regarding the final product, and which characteristics the printed clay products have.