Smart Tooling for Ceramic Profile Extrusion: Interdisciplinary exploration of innovation opportunities

In 2021 Dr Jorgensen secured further AHRC funding to support his research into Smart Tooling for Ceramic Profile Extrusion. The ceramic extrusion method has been utilised for many decades in mass productions of architectural components, such as bricks and tiles. The process presents significant creative and commercial opportunities with the potential to be utilised in many other contexts and applications. Despite this innovation potential ceramic profile extrusion is significantly under researched.

The fellowship was centred on investigations into how digital fabrication technologies can be the basis for developing new approaches and materials via interdisciplinary applications for the process. Building on successful findings from the initial fellowship period which established a series of tools and processes to aid further research and utilisation of the ceramic profile extrusion method. These tools include innovative methods for 3D printing the extrusion profiles, known as ‘dies’, as well as the development of software scripts which facilitate non-specialists to design the dies through simple numeric controls. The first phase also established a concept for a low-cost hydraulic extrusion system. This system, combined with the software script and the methods for 3D printing the extrusion die, constitute a rapid development workflow that enables individual practitioners as well as industrial companies to engage in this innovation with the ceramic extrusion process.

This second stage fellowship provided the opportunity to build on the very promising potential of these results and expand the explorations into hybrid approaches introducing deployable elements to the extrusion dies. These explorations sought to investigate the potential creation of hybrid extrusion and die moulding production methods – thus extending both the creative and technical application possibilities.