News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Marines from Marine Corps Systems Command and 7th Engineer Support Battalion, along with engineers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, conducted the first known 3D concrete printing operation with a three-inch print nozzle at the CERL headquarters in early August in Champaign, Illinois.
XTreeE, a France-based specialist in 3D printing concrete and construction, is reportedly working on a new project for a customer in the Caribbean. The project in question—a joint effort by XTreeE, Martinique-based telecoms infrastructure company Art & Fact Innovation and engineering firm Lamoureux & Ricciotti—consists of 3D printing 12-meter-tall telecom towers that blend seamlessly into the environment.
Engineers from UCLA have received a $1.5 million research grant to develop an eco-friendly 3D printable concrete material that uses carbon dioxide as part of its binder. The large grant was funded by the National Science Foundation, which hopes the research team will find a more sustainable solution for the production of 3D printable building materials.
Winsun Yingchuang Building Techniques (Shanghai) Co. Ltd is working closely with the Chinese Shanghai Academy of Building Research (SRIBS) on standardization of construction 3D printing materials (Ink) and 3D product standards. Professor-level Senior Engineer Ms. Ye Beihong of SRIBS presented the technical results of the research conducted on the additive manufacturing (3D printing) materials (Ink) and other 3D products produced by Winsun (Yingchuang Building Techniques) in Shanghai.
An interdisciplinary team at Penn State University was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the College of Engineering’s Engineering for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ENGINE) program, along with additional $25,000 from the College of Arts and Architecture, to pursue a concrete 3D printing project.
After much planning and testing, construction 3D printing company COBOD is ready to ship its BOD2 3D printer to Elite for Construction & Development Co. in Saudi Arabia. The massive 3D construction printer, reportedly the largest in the world, has a build capacity of 12 x 27 x 9 meters, or 300 square meters per storey.
New York-based 3D printing firm S-Squared 3D Printers Inc. (SQ3D) says it has completed construction of the largest 3D printed home in the world using its Autonomous Robotic Construction System (ARCS). The 3D printed building spans 500 ft² and reportedly took under 12 hours to complete.
GXN Innovation, an independent research company created by Danish architecture firm 3XN released its future vision for autonomous 3D printers. In this latest conceptual experiment involving additive manufacturing – part of the “Break the Grid” project – the firm was supported by the Dansk AM Hub, a government-supported Denmark’s platform that supports experimentation in additive manufacturing, and by MAP Architects. The result is swarms flying and diving 3D printing extrusion systems that can work autonomously to build and repair complex structures on land and in the sea.
Emaar Properties, a Dubai-based real estate developer, is reportedly planning to construct a 3D printed home in the UAE city. The project will mark Emaar’s first foray into 3D printed housing and its first step towards becoming a “leading adopter of advanced construction technologies.”
A collaboration between Digital Building Technologies and the Origen Festival in Riom, Switzerland, the installation Concrete Choreography consists of nine, individually designed, 2.7m tall columns. Each column is concrete 3D printed at full height in 2.5 hours with the process developed at ETH Zurich with the support of NCCR DFAB.