The research goal is to measure the suitability of ceramics as a material for manufacturing sign prototypes and support components of the signage system for the Comandante Ferraz Brazilian Antarctic Station, Brazil's main installment in the Antarctic region. The latter represents an environment with particular characteristics, having unique rules of occupation and material extraction and disposal, which demands a special approach when inserting any kind of foreign body to it.
The use of ceramics within a signage project in hostile and environmental protected area: The Keller Peninsula case
1. ICDHS 2012 · 8th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies
The use of ceramics within the
signage project in hostile and
environmental protected areas:
The Keller Peninsula Case
Nicoli Santos Ferraz
Dra. Cristina Engel Alvarez
Dr. Mauro Pinheiro
Dra. Maria Regina Rodrigues
5. The need for a signage system
• increasing number of scientific activities on
the Brazilian installment
• increasing number of station users and
touristic activities
• reconstruction of the Brazilian main
installment due to a firebreak in 2012
need to define general signage guidelines
for the future installment
9. The need for a signage system
the signage system should:
• organize tracks and routes
• make safety instructions easily accessible
• be harmless to the environment
• work on summer and winter conditions
11. Material characteristics suitable
for the Antarctic environment
• corrosion resistance
• non-toxic (no harm to the environment)
• don’t generate waste
• high durability (minimal maintenance)
• resistant to temperature variation and the
minimum absolute
ceramics?
12. CERAMICS: a possible material?
pros
•high degree of elasticity and plasticity → easy shaping
•no industrial production dependency
•non-toxic
•durable
•resistant to corrosion
cons
•its manufacturing demands high levels of electricity consumption
•low resistance against impact
•more complex logistics for safe transportation
13. Material testing
Goals:
Explore manual techniques on the prototype construction
•Three types of clay
•Two distinct techniques
•Baking
Post-production analysis
•Weight loss measurement
•Evaluation of environmental costs
(water and electricity consumption, toxic resources involved)
14. Material testing
Three distinct types of clay
Clay Z Clay S Terracota with chamote
local and manually local and manually from the Pascoal
produced clay, extracted produced clay, extracted company (SP)
and cleaned by Zezinho and cleaned by Sidina
17. Material testing
Weight loss measure after 1 and 2 weeks
weight clay Z clay S terracota- terracota-
chamote chamote
(lid) (body)
before dry 480g 710g 650g 1130g
up
after dry up 440g 680g 615g 1080g
It is essential to understand the dry up process of each clay type, given that such
information is indispensable for the calculation of the final prototype size.
19. Material testing
Water consumption
A great amount of water is consumed in nearly every stage of the
clay products manufacturing process, and for cleaning the
equipment used.
Electricity
The clay preparation demands a great deal of electricity, in
particular during the dry up and baking process, even using an Etil
electric oven.
(its special refractory bricks cover keeps the heat and optimizes the electricity consumption).
20. Material testing
Toxic resources
The tests were exclusively made with clay, with no
addiction of enamel of any sort, so the plates do not carry
any toxic substance in its structure.
21. Preliminary findings
The prototypes developed using manual techniques
presented some imprecision, suggesting that these
techniques wouldn’t be the best solution for large
scale production of the signage system components
22. Preliminary findings
The material testing indicates that ceramics
could be an adequate option in the
manufacturing of the Keller Peninsula
signage system components
23. Next steps
• experiment with liquid clay
• prototyping
• long term (1 year) testing on site
• environmental impact studies
– production
– packaging
– transportation
24. ICDHS 2012 · 8th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies
thank you!
Nicoli Santos Ferraz nicoli.ferraz@gmail.com
Dra. Cristina Engel Alvarez cristinaengel@pq.cnpq.br
Dr. Mauro Pinheiro mauro.pinheiro@ufes.br
Dra. Maria Regina Rodrigues mregina.r@uol.com.br
Hinweis der Redaktion
Good afternoon, thank you all for coming. I'm Mauro Pinheiro, this is Nicoli Santos Ferraz. We're from Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, and we're going to present our research about the use of ceramics within a signage project in hostile and environmental protected areas, the Keller Peninsulua Case. The research goal is to measure the suitability of ceramics as a material for manufacturing sign prototypes and support components of the signage system for the Comandante Ferraz Brazilian Antarctic Station, Brazil's main installment in the Antarctic region.
Here you can see the location of the Brazilian Antarctic Station, on this tiny island close to the Antarctic continent. Here, on this dashed rectangle, is the Keller Peninsula.
Here you can see the location of the Brazilian Antarctic Station, on this tiny island close to the Antarctic continent. Here, on this dashed rectangle, is the Keller Peninsula.
In this aerial view you can see the Brazilian station on the east side of the Peninsula. Along the coast there are some trails and shelters. Research activities occur not only in the main station, but throughout the Peninsula. The Brazilian occupation in the Keller Peninsula has started in 1984 Since then, not only the number of scientific activities conducted in Antarctica has increased, but also the ascension of touristic activities (PROANTAR 2012). This growing number of station users have a direct influence on the density of traffic flow in that region. Such scenario makes the organization of tracks and routes as well as the instruction of users become essential, when it comes to environmental protection, control over contingent remains production and people’s safety. Considering the hostility of that region, the promotion of scientific researches depends entirely upon the installation of a basic structure which grants safety and the essential work conditions. The Antarctic region is an environment with particular characteristics, having unique rules of occupation and for material extraction and disposal, which demands a special approach when inserting any kind of foreign body to it.
Due to a firebreak in 2012, the Brazilian Antarctic Station will be reconstructed, which presents an opportunity to develop the guidelines for a signage system.
In this picture you can see the Antarctic moss, over which people should avoid walking. Here you can see a penguin’s nest. People should avoid disturbing the penguins too. You can also see the remains of a whale. This is like local landmark and a “touristic attraction”, but one has to avoid to get near, stepping over the moss. This is a particular situation that should be clearly remarked by the signage.
This is a picture of a regular pathway on the region. You can see a trail of rocks delimiting the path. Follow the yellow brick road.
These are some of the buildings of the station base, in a picture taken in the early days of winter. The Antarctic region has only two seasons: summer and winter. Although the main research activities are carried on during summer, there are some people from the staff that stay during winter, mainly doing maintenance activities.
In a nutshell, the signage system should organize tracks and routes should make safety instructions easily accessible should be harmless to the environment should work both on summer and winter conditions
Em relação ao clima, a bibliografia consultada refere-se, invariavelmente, à definição de somente duas estações – verão e inverno – induzindo que não existam as situações intermediárias comumente adotadas no Brasil e em diversos outros países. De acordo com Setzer e Romão (2008) as massas de ar que atingem a EACF têm origens geográficas diferentes, resultando em períodos com mais ou menos incidência de vento, e mais quentes ou frios. Por exemplo, o número de eventos por ano com ventos acima de 110 km/h variou de 50 casos em 2004 a 17 casos em 2007, e; a temperatura média anual variou de -0.8°C a -3.5°C, na transição de 2006, um dos anos recentes mais quentes, para 2007, um dos mais frios da série da EACF, respectivamente (SETZER e ROMÃO, 2008). média anual -2,8 ºC mínima absoluta (05/agosto/1991) -28,5ºC máxima absoluta (08/novembro/1998) 14,4ºC
Considering this characteristics, we started to explore CERAMICS as a possible material to be used on the signage system.
Three distinct types of clay were used within the prototypes’ manufacturing process, two of them from a local manual production and terracotta with chamote.
Two distinct techniques were employed during the prototypes’ shaping process, i.e.
1.Shaping technique supported by a former plate, for the native clay types;
2.Production techniques with plates, for the terracotta-chamote mixture.
Due to the water loss the phenomenon of shrinkage takes place during the dry up period of solids, changing the sample’s original measures. In the course of the experiment data on the prototype’s weight and dimensions were collected before and after the dry up. It is essential to understand the dry up process of each clay type, given that such information is indispensable for the calculation of the final prototype size.
The baking experiments were carried out using an electric oven, by 1200°C temperature and 20 hours.
A great amount of water is consumed in nearly every stage of the clay products manufacturing process, and for cleaning the equipment used. The clay preparation demands a great deal of electricity, in particular during the dry up and baking process, even using an Etil electric oven.
The tests were exclusively made with clay, with no addiction of enamel of any sort, so the plates do not carry any toxic substance in its structure.