News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
According to India’s ETGovernment.com, Lieutenant General Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General of Border Roads, recently inspected the under-construction Himank Air Dispatch Unit, which is set to be the world’s largest 3D printed campus (and was built using COBOD technology).
Mighty Buildings, a leader in 3D printing construction technology known for its prefabricated, environmentally-friendly, and climate-resilient homes, has raised $52 million in funding – demonstrating strong investor confidence in Mighty Buildings’ innovative offsite 3D printing construction technology. The round was co-led by Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million innovation-focused venture capital fund backed by Saudi Aramco, and by BOLD Capital Partners, a US disruption and transformation-focused venture firm.
DEEP is emerging from stealth with the project of a subsea station that will revolutionize access to and understanding of our planet’s oceans. Scalable, modular, and autonomous, the DEEP Sentinel system will be built using primarily WAAM metal 3D printing technology. It has been designed for deployments up to 200m below the surface. This radically opens up access to the world’s continental shelves and the entirety of the Epipelagic Zone (sunlight zone), home to over 90% of marine life. To study, understand, and preserve Earth’s most important biome we must first be able to access it, and DEEP exists to develop technology for exactly that purpose.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel-based Ackerstein Industries, a frontrunner in producing eco-friendly concrete solutions for infrastructure and industrial construction, is expanding its innovative efforts into 3D concrete printing.
The BioMatters team at the University of Michigan has developed a fully biodegradable, reusable, and recyclable material – upcycled sawdust – to replace the wasteful concrete formwork traditionally used across the construction industry. Millions of tons of sawdust waste are reportedly created each year from the 15 billion cut trees. This waste is often burned or dumped in landfills, left to contribute to environmental pollution.
QOROX, a construction company in New Zealand, has become an authorized reseller of 3D concrete printers from CyBe Construction, a Dutch leader in 3D concrete printing hardware, software, and materials. This partnership strengthens the growing interconnectedness in the additive manufacturing industry and aims to spread advanced 3D construction technology across New Zealand and Australia.
3D printing stands for progress in construction like hardly any other process. It not only enables the implementation of individual geometries and components made of concrete that would not be possible with conventional formwork technology but also optimizes production processes and accelerates the digitization process in the construction industry. The construction of a 3D printed tiny house in North Rhine-Westphalia by MENSE KORTE also highlights the use of more sustainable building materials for printing.
RENCA, a pioneer in sustainable geopolymer materials for construction 3D printing, has set a significant milestone in the construction industry by using their zero-cement geopolymer 3D printing mortar in the construction of the world’s first 3D printed geopolymer house. The sustainability of construction materials and methods is a major global concern, given the significant pollution contributed by these elements. With emerging technologies such as 3D printing, new possibilities for reducing environmental impact are arising. This technology not only offers unparalleled freedom in design but also lessens the waste produced and the materials required.
Emergent, a pioneer in advanced construction technology, has completed the first 3D concrete printed (3DCP) home in California. The event marks a significant milestone, with the property conforming fully to the state’s stringent building codes – the most rigorous in the United States, driven among others by regional seismic activity.
Infrastructure is emerging as a key area of development for concrete 3D printing. Cambridge researchers, working in partnership with industry and specialist companies like Versarien, have helped develop the first 3D printed piece of concrete infrastructure to be used on a National Highways project. The 3D printed structure – a type of retaining wall known as a headwall – has been installed on the A30 in Cornwall, where it is providing real-time information thanks to Cambridge-designed sensors embedded in its structure. The sensors provide up-to-date measurements including temperature, strain and pressure. This digital twin of the wall could help spot and correct faults before they occur.