This master thesis is the result of a graduation project for the Master Integrated Product Design at the TU Delft. The project was formulated as a continuation on research done by Mariet Sauerwein and Zjenja Doubrovski, in which they proved the potential of mussel shells as a material for material extrusion 3D printing. This with the aim of creation of a locally available material from a current waste stream, exploiting the possibilities of local manufacturing with 3D printing, as this has the potential to contribute to a circular economy.
This project was meant to continue the search for a material made from mussel shells that was printable and recyclable, and find possible applications.
Based on the literature and initial tests was concluded that an additional ingredient was required besides ground mussel shells and water, to create the right viscosity. Research was done into suitable binder materials. Four potential materials were chosen with a weighted criteria method. These materials were sugar, potato starch, iota-carrageenan and NEO-alginate. These four were tested on their effect on the printability and recyclability of the material. Both sugar and NEO-alginate were chosen to continue with as they both had proven to be the best suitable binding agents according to a set of defined criteria.
Relevant technical characteristics of both material combinations were defined by material tests. As the material is developed in this project, there is a certain amount of control over its characteristics by varying certain parameters in the process; Because of this not only the characteristics themselves but also the effect of process parameters was defined. The experiential characteristics, i.e. how the material is perceived, were defined by user tests.
Based on found characteristics a Material Experience Vision was defined. This Vision was meant to give direction and provide guidance through to the ideation process. The Vision is defined as
“I want to create an application in which the material has clear benefits over other suitable materials and fits within a system compliant with the principles of a circular economy. This application will comprise physical interaction with the user, to evoke found positive surprise due to the materials characteristics that differ from materials the user initially associated developed material with.”
With this Vision as guidance three product applications were found through the ideation process. From these three the concept Circular Lighting was elaborated on; in this concept the material was used to create lamp shades in a ‘light as a service’ system. This system was meant for circular built tourist residences. The manufacturer keeps ownership of the light system. Repair and replacement is outsourced to local parties, who would collect the material of the lamps and use it to print new lamps, creating local material loops. A prototype is made of a possible lamp design to validate and showcase the possibilities with developed material.¬