Construction 3D printing

Construction 3D Printing refers to various technologies that use 3D printing as a core method to fabricate buildings or construction components. Current machines are being integrated into automated and semi automated production lines and, because of the scale of construction, will feature elements of additive, subtractive and formative manufacturing processes, to handle material deposition at one scale and finishing at another. Because of the cost, 3D printing at construction scales demands clever design and can respond to the demands of architects and engineers for high value, high performance building components. Potential advantages of these technologies include faster construction, lower labor costs, increased complexity and/or accuracy, greater integration of function and less waste produced. There are a variety of 3D printing methods used at construction scale, these include the following main methods: extrusion (concrete/cement, wax, foam, polymers), powder bonding (polymer bond, reactive bond, sintering) and additive welding. 3D printing at a construction scale will have a wide variety of applications within the private, commercial, industrial and public sectors. Development has been slow and sporadic, since its development in the mid 1990s, where initially it was explored as a scaled version of mainstream 3D printing, having both novelty value and early research funding in both the US and Europe. The term 'Construction 3D Printing' was first coined by James B Gardiner in 2011

A number of different approaches have been demonstrated to date which include on-site and off-site fabrication of buildings and construction components, using industrial robots, gantry systems and tethered autonomous vehicles. Demonstrations of construction 3D printing technologies to date have included fabrication of housing, construction components (cladding and structural panels and columns), bridges, artificial reefs, follies and sculptures. Current efforts focus on integrating the advantages of digital fabrication within factory based construction manufacturing. Stand alone and on-site machines are in planning and research, ranging from modified autonomous concrete/gypsum/mineral paste pumping/spraying, composite fiber spinning and ultimately swarm construction agents, where construction 3D printing merges with robotics and AI systems. Pilot studies have demonstrated that construction 3D printing may be well suited for construction of extraterrestrial structures on the Moon or other planets, where environmental conditions are less conducive to human labor-intensive building practices.

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