In the opening years of the 20th century, a furor of new and experimental techniques swept the architectural field. The materials and methods of building altered so rapidly that standards of architectural representation and the acts of construction they choreographed appeared for a time to exist without history or precedent. In chaotic times chaos seems all consuming; yet standards are soon established and modes of practice formalized. So it was with the advent of architectural modernity. The beginning of the century was a time of great experimentation and innovation, not only in architectural materials but in the tools and representations of architects, and the methods of building they described. In this exploration of the relationship between material innovation and architectural representation, we examine the case of the Pennsylvania artisan-scholar Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), and his development of a unique method for construction in reinforced concrete and ceramic tiles of his own design. In the years between 1907 and 1916, Mercer built three buildings of increasing complexity and scale, using methods of fabrication he developed over the course of these constructions. His approach was experimental, innovative, and yet quite different from the prevailing currents in engineering and industry at that time. While Mercer has been studied as a decorator of tiles, as an archaeologist, and as a curator of one the first and finest collections of early American material culture, very little work has been completed on Mercer as architect-builder. In Mercer's building projects we see a scientific mind and an artistic maker explore and experiment freely, building a bridge between his seemingly disparate worlds: from the Arts and Crafts-inspired Moravian Pottery he founded, to the archaeologically rigorous collection of pre-industrial tools. Mercer focused with great intensity on implements and evidences of traditional craft activities, and it is his particular sensitivity to the traditions and forms of craft activity that renders his architectural activity unique, and pertinent to the question of innovation in method. At the center of his architectural activities, Mercer's construction notebooks, in which he worked out plans, details, and many of his most unique procedural innovations, illustrate a novel comportment of architect to architectural representation, and offer a story of how the making of architecture is, itself, made. / PHD / In the opening years of the 20th century, a furor of new and experimental techniques swept the architectural field. The materials and methods of building altered so rapidly that standards of architectural representation and the acts of construction they choreographed appeared for a time to exist without history or precedent. In chaotic times chaos seems all consuming; yet standards are soon established and modes of practice formalized. So it was with the advent of architectural modernity. The beginning of the century was a time of great experimentation and innovation, not only in architectural materials but in the tools and representations of architects, and the methods of building they described. In this exploration of the relationship between drawing and building, we examine the case of the Pennsylvania artisan-scholar Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), and his development of a unique method for construction in reinforced concrete and ceramic tile of his own design. Mercer has been studied as a decorator of tiles, as an archaeologist, and as a curator of one the first and finest collections of early American tools. Yet very little work has been completed on Mercer as architect-builder. In Mercer’s building projects we see a scientific mind and an artistic maker explore and experiment freely, building a bridge between his seemingly disparate loves: from the Arts and Crafts-inspired Moravian Pottery he founded, to the archaeologically rigorous collection of pre-industrial tools. Mercer focused with great intensity on implements and evidences of traditional craft activities, and it is his particular sensitivity to the traditions and forms of making that renders his architectural activity unique, and pertinent to the question of innovation in method. At the center of his architectural activities, Mercer’s construction notebooks, in which he drew plans and worked out many of his most unique procedural innovations, illustrate a novel comportment of architect to drawing, and offer a story of how the making of architecture is, itself, made.

Plants and ceramics play a crucial role in many Indigenous cultures, used in food preparation and rituals. Datura is a plant found in the Southeast and is known for its medicinal and hallucinogenic properties. The Indigenous cultures that used Datura in their rituals had to develop an understanding of the plant and how to use it. Datura contains specific alkaloids, which are used for medicinal purposes but can be lethal if consumed incorrectly. Being aware of the danger of consuming Datura incorrectly, the Indigenous people had to create a system of extracting the hallucinogenic properties for their ritual and medicinal uses. This thesis examines unique vessels from the Central Arkansas River Valley that contain the residue of Datura through the use of experimental archaeology and residue analysis to gain insights into how Indigenous people made and used these vessels in the production and consumption of Datura.

No / This report is concerned with fragmented skeletal remains dating to the Middle Bronze Age that were excavated in the 2001 campaign at Sidon, Lebanon. From 19 discrete burial units a total of 31 individuals were identifiedand assessed as to their biological characteristics. The majority of adults who could be sexed were male, many of them strongly built. The overall age distribution in this sample is characterised by a pattern commonly found in prehistoric assemblages, with high mortality during infancy and early childhood and a peak in adult mortality during early adulthood. There is a conspicuous occurrence of unusual dental traits. Jar burials, all found with remains of sub-adult individuals, represent a burial practice applied to children of a wide age range. Many burials are associated with faunal remains, mostly of sheep or goats, but also of large ungulates.

No / To obtain accurate results in the RHX dating of ceramics, it is essential that the RHX measurements are continued until the rate of mass gain is constant with (time)1/4. In this paper, we discuss how the initial stages of mass gain are affected by the specific surface area (SSA) of the ceramic material. The paper provides guidance on experimental protocols to avoid dating results being distorted by relatively early-time mass gain data.

Yes / In this paper we consider the making, daily use and deposition of ornaments in the Halaf period. We seek to move beyond rigid ‘craft production’ interpretive frameworks intersecting symbolism, complexity and social inequality. Instead, we seek different ways of knowing prehistoric ornaments, through their materiality, assemblage and visuality as evidence of ambiguous mutable person-object relationships and experiences. Making and decoration of/with ornaments offers insights into social concepts of embodiment, personhood, identity and belonging, and should be interpreted as having ambiguous, multiple uses and meanings. Using six case studies of ornament types from excavated assemblages, we critically examine existing methods of small finds’ presentation and suggest more dynamic ways of artefact analysis, interpretation and publication. We present this interpretative model as a methodology applicable broadly to small find studies in all archaeological contexts. In our analysis we re-orient towards considering assemblages of dynamic communities of makers, users and identities embedded in these objects’ life histories.

The goal of my graduate thesis is to design a dinner service set suitable for mass manufacture. The purpose of completing an academic study of dinnerware as an industrial designer is to gain a mastery of a product used everyday in and out of the home. With such a rich history in ceramics, it is challenging to design a new dinner service set that is functional, enhances the aesthetics of a meal and sustains the intimate relationship of everyday use by adapting to lives. My particular design ideals are expressed in the line quality, section, volume, breadth and visual language of the Galaxy Collection. This document is a record of the research and decision making process for the design of the dinner service. / Master of Science

An experimental study of ceramic lubrication through the concept of tribopolymerization from the vapor phase is presented. Four vinyl monomer additives were studied, i.e., vinyl acetate, diallyl phthalate, lauryl methacrylate, and vinyl octadecyl ether. The liquid additives were heated, vaporized, and delivered to an enclosed alumina-on-alumina "pin-on-disk” contact region by a stream of dry nitrogen gas. Alumina ball wear reductions of up to 99% were observed and total wear reductions (ball and disk) of over 70% were also common. Colorful surface films visible to the naked eye were examined. Monomer concentration does not appear to have an effect over the range examined. But, higher monomer delivery temperatures have a significant beneficial effect in reducing wear. Selective FTIRM analysis shows evidence of both polymerization and monomer reactions with the alumina surface. It is believed that the surface films formed reduce adhesion and therefore decrease both wear and friction. The development, design, and construction of a high load, high speed, high frictional heat generation pin-on-disk machine is presented. A very successful geometry has been created and recommendations for added instrumentation and its future use for both liquid and vapor phase tests are presented. / Master of Science

Ceramics have a wide variety of applications due to their unique properties; however, the low fracture toughness leads the formation and propagation of unpredictable cracks, and reduces their reliability. To solve this problem, self-healing adaptive oxides were developed. The aim of the work is to gain new insights into self-healing mechanisms of ceramics and their application. Binary oxide systems were investigated that are at least partially healed through the extrinsic or intrinsic addition of silver or silver oxide to form ternary oxides (e.g., Nb2O5 + Ag → AgNbO3). Sintered pellets and coatings were tested. For self-healing TBCs, model systems that were studied include YSZ-Al2O3-SiC, YSZ-Al2O3-TiC, YSZ-Al2O3-Nb2O5, and YSZ-Al2O3-Ta2O5. Laser cladded samples and sintered pellets were produced to test. The healing process occurs due to the formation of oxidation products and glassy phases depending on the self-healing mechanism. X-ray diffraction was used to explore phase evolution, chemical compositions, and structural properties of these samples. SEM equipped with EDS was used to investigate the chemical and morphological properties for the cross-sectional area. Pin-on-disc test was applied to test tribology performance for Nb2O5-Ag2O system, and infiltration test was applied to test CMAS-resistance for TBCs at elevated temperature. The improvements in the performance of these materials were demonstrated.

<div>Understanding grain growth in dielectric ceramics is essential to controlling the electrical and mechanical properties necessary to produce ceramic capacitors and sensors. The effect of alloying barium titanate with strontium titanate on the equilibrium crystal shape was investigated in order to determine possible impacts on grain growth. The equilibrium crystal shape was studied through three experimental methods to identify possible changes in grain boundary energy or anisotropy with changing composition.</div><div>The first method was by imaging intergranular pores to observe faceting behavior and relative interfacial energies. Intergranular pores were reconstructed to determine the relative surface energies of the identified facets. The second method was to perform atomic force microscopy on surface facets to collect topography data. The topography data was combined with orientation data obtained by EBSD analysis from the same region, and used to calculate the normal vector of the surface facets. These datasets were plotted in a stereographic projection to study the faceting anisotropy. The third method involved collecting EBSD orientation data and images of surface faceting behavior. The surface faceting behavior of each grain was categorized by type of facet and plotted on a stereographic projection at the corresponding orientation. This allowed for the analysis of faceting transitions and the differentiation of faceted and continuous regions of the equilibrium crystal shape. The analysis of faceting behavior across compositions has implications on grain growth of the barium titanate/strontium titanate system.</div>

Esta dissertação compreende o percurso no desenvolvimento de dois objetos cerâmicos. São exploradas características e possibilidades de criação com o material utilizado - porcelana -, tendo como motivo fragmentos selecionados da obra de Clarice Lispector. A dissertação é composta por descrições e reflexões sobre o processo criativo dos dois objetos e a materialidade da porcelana, esclarecendo as escolhas feitas durante o percurso. Paralelamente, apresenta e detalha os materiais e as técnicas empregadas na produção dos objetos, contribuindo com informações importantes para o meio ceramista. Mostrado como o recorte de um conjunto que inclui o conhecimento de outros materiais e técnicas cerâmicas, a dissertação ressalta a importância da pesquisa técnica e do desenvolvimento prático como motores de um ciclo para o crescimento poético. / This dissertation consists of the paths chosen for the development of two ceramic objects. The features and possibilities of creation with the material - porcelain - are explored, having as motif fragments selected from Clarice Lispector\'s work. The dissertation contains descriptions and thoughts about the creative process of the two objects and porcelain, justifying the choices made. At the same time, it presents in details the materials and technical processes used for making the objects, contributing with important information for ceramists. Chosen as part of a whole wich includes knowledge about other ceramic materials and techniques, the dissertation emphasizes the importance of technical research and practice as engine of a circle for poetic development.