Bridging 3D printing and passive evaporative cooling: Wind tunnel evaluation of parametric-based ceramic building screens under controlled thermal loads

Abstract

Urban overheating demands innovative passive cooling strategies integrated into building envelopes. While 3D-printed ceramics offer unprecedented geometric control for architectural applications, their evaporative cooling potential under forced convection remains under-characterized. This study provides a rigorous baseline assessment of the evaporative cooling performance of 3D-printed ceramic screens based on Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) geometries. Six configurations—combining two ceramic materials, two TPMS topologies (Gyroid and Schwarz-P), and specific density levels—were experimentally tested in a wind tunnel coupled with an environmental chamber. The dynamic airflow assessment spanned eleven psychrometric scenarios, evaluating both steady-state and transient conditions typical of summer thermal loads in southern Spain. Results indicate that Gyroid based screens (Y-Gyr-2) reached a maximum sensible cooling power of 11,794 W/m 2 , outperforming Schwarz-P (Y-Sch-1) by 26.5% due to its lower aerodynamic resistance and its higher evaporative area. While these controlled wind-tunnel tests do not account for real-world variables such as direct solar radiation or outdoor wind turbulence, they isolate the precise impact of 3D-printed macro-porosity on convective heat and mass transfer. The findings provide critical benchmark data for the future computational modelling and optimization of water-assisted passive cooling facades in hot and arid climates.