{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T04:05:53Z","timestamp":1772424353713,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,6]],"date-time":"2022-01-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1641427200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The building construction sector is undergoing one of the most profound transformations towards the digital transition of production. In recent decades, the advent of a novel technology for the 3D printing of clay opened up new sustainable possibilities in construction. Some architectural applications of 3D-printed clay bricks with simple internal configurations are being developed around the world. On the other hand, the full potential of 3D-printed bricks for building production is still unknown. Scientific studies about the design and printability of 3D-printed bricks exploiting complex internal geometries are completely missing in the related literature. This paper explores the new boundaries of 3D-printed clay bricks realized with a sustainable extrusion-based 3D clay printing process by proposing a novel conception, design, and analysis. In particular, the proposed methodological approach includes: (i) conception and design; (ii) parametric modeling; (iii) simulation of printability; and (iv) prototyping. The new design and conception aim to fully exploit the potential of 3D printing to realize complex internal geometry in a 3D-printed brick. To this aim, the research investigates the printability of internal configuration generated by using geometries with well-known remarkable mechanical properties, such as periodic minimal surfaces. In conclusion, the results are validated by a wide prototyping campaign.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su14020598","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,9]],"date-time":"2022-01-09T23:08:26Z","timestamp":1641769706000},"page":"598","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":53,"title":["The New Boundaries of 3D-Printed Clay Bricks Design: Printability of Complex Internal Geometries"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7534-3177","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valentino","family":"Sangiorgio","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ICITECH\u2014Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnolog\u00eda del Hormig\u00f3n, Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Val\u00e8ncia, 46022 Valencia, Spain"},{"name":"DICATECh\u2014Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry, Polytechnic University of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"CONSTRUCT-LESE\u2014Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"FCI\u2014Facultad de Ciencias e Ingenier\u00eda, Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica del Per\u00fa (PUCP), 15088 Lima, Peru"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Parisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICITECH\u2014Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnolog\u00eda del Hormig\u00f3n, Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Val\u00e8ncia, 46022 Valencia, Spain"},{"name":"DEI\u2014Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Polytechnic University of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Fieni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DICAR\u2014Department of Civil Engineering Sciences and Architecture, Polytechnic University of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0629-3719","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicola","family":"Parisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DICAR\u2014Department of Civil Engineering Sciences and Architecture, Polytechnic University of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"640","DOI":"10.3934\/matersci.2021039","article-title":"Preparation and characterization of novel environmentally sustainable mortars based on magnesium potassium phosphate cement for additive manufacturing","volume":"8","author":"Volpe","year":"2021","journal-title":"AIMS Mater. Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Parisi, F., Mangini, A.M., Fanti, M.P., and Parisi, N. (2021, January 23\u201327). A Drone-Assisted 3D Printing by Crane Structures in Construction Industry. Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE 17th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), Lyon, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/CASE49439.2021.9551611"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"194","DOI":"10.5937\/SAJ1302194H","article-title":"Digital grotesque: Towards a micro-tectonic architecture","volume":"5","author":"Hansmeyer","year":"2013","journal-title":"SAJ Serb. Archit. J."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Volpe, S., Sangiorgio, V., Petrella, A., Coppola, A., Notarnicola, M., and Fiorito, F. (2021). Building Envelope Prefabricated with 3D Printing Technology. Sustainability, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/su13168923"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103956","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autcon.2021.103956","article-title":"Additive manufacturing of clay and ceramic building components","volume":"133","author":"Wolf","year":"2022","journal-title":"Autom. Constr."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"222","DOI":"10.1080\/17452759.2018.1476064","article-title":"Design of a 3D printed concrete bridge by testing","volume":"13","author":"Salet","year":"2018","journal-title":"Virtual Phys. Prototyp."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Parisi, N. (2020, January 7\u20139). 3D printing for earthen architecture. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Architecture and Built Environment with AWARDs, S.ARCH 2020, Tokyo, Japan."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1007\/s41693-017-0008-0","article-title":"Large-scale 3D printing with cable-driven parallel robots","volume":"1","author":"Izard","year":"2017","journal-title":"Constr. Robot."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Figliola, A., and Battisti, A. (2021). Post-Industrial Robotics: Exploring Informed Architecture, Springer Nature.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-15-5278-6"},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"1","article-title":"Additive Manufacturing of Ceramic Components for Fa\u00e7ade Construction","volume":"8","author":"Cruz","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Facade Des. Eng."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Suon, P. (2016). Dynamic Ceramic. [Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California]."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Carvalho, J. (2021, November 10). Free-Form Ceramic Vault System-Taking Ceramic Additive Manufacturing to Real Scale. Matter Additive Manufacturing. Available online: http:\/\/papers.cumincad.org\/cgi-bin\/works\/Show?ecaadesigradi2019_592.","DOI":"10.5151\/proceedings-ecaadesigradi2019_592"},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Carvalho, J., Cruz, P.J., and Figueiredo, B. (2018, January 16\u201320). 3D printed ceramic vault shading systems. Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposia, Boston, MA, USA."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117690","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conbuildmat.2019.117690","article-title":"Additive manufacturing effect on the mechanical behaviour of architectural stoneware bricks","volume":"238","author":"Cruz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Constr. Build. Mater."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"Peters, B., Sharag-Eldin, A., and Callaghan, B. (2017, January 14\u201317). Development of a simple Hot Box to determine the thermal characteristics of a three-dimensional printed bricks. Proceedings of the ARCC 2017 Conference\u2014Architecture of Complexity, Salt Lake City, UT, USA."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Cruz, P.J., Knaack, U., Figueiredo, B., and Witte, D.D. (2017, January 25\u201328). Ceramic 3D printing\u2013The future of brick architecture. Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposia, Hamburg, Germany."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Barbosa, I.V., and Figueiredo, B. (2017). Optimized brick\u2014Print optimization. Challenges for Technology Innovation: An Agenda for the Future, CRC Press.","DOI":"10.1201\/9781315198101-37"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6083","DOI":"10.1021\/ma0019499","article-title":"Triply periodic bicontinuous cubic microdomain morphologies by symmetries","volume":"34","author":"Wohlgemuth","year":"2001","journal-title":"Macromolecules"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"S\u00e9quin, C.H. (2004). Volution\u2019s Evolution, Association for Computing Machinery.","DOI":"10.1145\/1185884.1185957"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106586","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijmecsci.2021.106586","article-title":"Design, mechanical properties and energy absorption capability of graded-thickness triply periodic minimal surface structures fabricated by selective laser melting","volume":"204","author":"Fan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Mech. Sci."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Almeida, H.A., and da Silva B\u00e1rtolo, P.J. (2017). Mathematical Modeling of 3D Tissue Engineering Constructs. 3D Printing and Biofabrication, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-40498-1_5-1"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tedeschi, A., and Lombardi, D. (2018). The Algorithms-Aided Design (AAD). Informed Architecture, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-53135-9_4"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103469","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autcon.2020.103469","article-title":"VoxelPrint: A Grasshopper plug-in for voxel-based numerical simulation of concrete printing","volume":"122","author":"Vantyghem","year":"2021","journal-title":"Autom. Constr."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"114","article-title":"European Standard Related To Clay Masonry Units","volume":"11","author":"Agostini","year":"2000","journal-title":"Ind. Laterizi"},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"UNI Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione (2022, January 01). 771-1: 2005. Specification for Masonry Units-Part, 1. Available online: https:\/\/standards.iteh.ai\/catalog\/standards\/cen\/0597684f-a18a-48cb-a538-6a9ab3762721\/en-771-1-2003-a1-2005."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6176","DOI":"10.1111\/jace.16474","article-title":"Additive manufacturing of architected catalytic ceramic substrates based on triply periodic minimal surfaces","volume":"102","author":"Pelanconi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Am. Ceram. Soc."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"012036","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-6596\/935\/1\/012036","article-title":"Mechanical properties of ceramic structures based on Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) processed by 3D printing","volume":"935","author":"Restrepo","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Phys. Conf. Ser."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"439","article-title":"Mechanical properties of 3D printed cellular structures with topology of triply periodic minimal surfaces","volume":"30","author":"Balabanov","year":"2020","journal-title":"Mater. Today"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Buratti, G. (2018). Algorithmic modelling of triply periodic minimal surface. Computational Morphologies, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-60919-5_5"},{"key":"ref_30","first-page":"140","article-title":"Weaverbird: Topological mesh editing for architects","volume":"83","author":"Piacentino","year":"2013","journal-title":"Archit. Des."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.3389\/fbuil.2020.00044","article-title":"CAD-integrated parametric lightweight design with Isogeometric B-Rep Analysis","volume":"6","author":"Goldbach","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Built Environ."},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"2934","article-title":"Mechanical Properties of Triply Periodic Minimal Surface based lattices made by Polyjet Printing","volume":"22","author":"Sathishkumar","year":"2020","journal-title":"Mater. Today"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"572","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actbio.2017.02.024","article-title":"Additively manufactured metallic porous biomaterials based on minimal surfaces: A unique combination of topological, mechanical, and mass transport properties","volume":"53","author":"Bobbert","year":"2017","journal-title":"ACTA Biomater."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"4088","article-title":"Additively manufactured porous metallic biomaterials","volume":"7","author":"Zadpoor","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6875","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2011.06.012","article-title":"Minimal surface scaffold designs for tissue engineering","volume":"32","author":"Kapfer","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"325","DOI":"10.1090\/S0273-0979-2011-01334-9","article-title":"The classical theory of minimal surfaces","volume":"48","year":"2011","journal-title":"Bull. Am. Math. Soc."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.2140\/pjm.2003.212.347","article-title":"A family of triply periodic Costa surfaces","volume":"212","author":"Batista","year":"2003","journal-title":"Pac. J. Math."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00375407","article-title":"Limits of minimal surfaces and Scherk\u2019s Fifth Surface","volume":"111","author":"Hoffman","year":"1990","journal-title":"Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lancellotta, R. (2008). Geotechnical Engineering, Taylor and Francis, CRC Press.","DOI":"10.1201\/9781482265934"},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"(2021, December 11). Pylos. Available online: http:\/\/pylos.iaac.net\/main.html."},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"(2021, December 11). Terraperforma. Available online: https:\/\/iaac.net\/project\/terraperforma."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Lange, C., and Holohan, D. (2019, January 15\u201318). Ceramic in formation pavilion. Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, Hong Kong, China."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"(2021, December 11). HEXASHADE. Available online: https:\/\/www.aclab-idegui.org\/hexashade."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1150","DOI":"10.1016\/j.proeng.2017.04.275","article-title":"Mass customization with additive manufacturing: New perspectives for multi performative building components in architecture","volume":"180","author":"Paoletti","year":"2017","journal-title":"Procedia Eng."},{"key":"ref_45","first-page":"2245","article-title":"Optimization of support material and build time in fused deposition modeling (FDM)","volume":"110","author":"Gurrala","year":"2012","journal-title":"Appl. Mech. Mater."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Katzer, J., and Szatkiewicz, T. (2020). Effect of 3D Printed Spatial Reinforcement on Flexural Characteristics of Conventional Mortar. Materials, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma13143133"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1007\/s00004-012-0119-3","article-title":"Robotic assembly processes as a driver in architectural design","volume":"14","author":"Bonwetsch","year":"2012","journal-title":"Nexus Netw. J."}],"container-title":["Sustainability"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/14\/2\/598\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]],"date-time":"2025-10-13T14:12:52Z","timestamp":1760364772000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/14\/2\/598"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,6]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1]]}},"alternative-id":["su14020598"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/su14020598","relation":{},"ISSN":["2071-1050"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2071-1050","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,6]]}}}