News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Serendix, a Japanese 3D printer housing company (construction 3D printing service provider), has acquired three new printers, significantly expanding its printing capabilities and aiming to double its production volume.
Mighty Buildings, a 3D printing construction technology provider, is set to use Honeywell Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) as a key component in the material it uses to build 3D printed homes. Honeywell’s low-global warming potential (GWP) technology will replace traditional foam insulation – helping Mighty Buildings reduce emissions and produce strong, energy-efficient building panels. Honeywell offers aerospace, building automation, performance materials and technologies, and safety and productivity solutions, and this collaboration is the alignment of its portfolio to three powerful megatrends, including the energy transition.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), whose mandate is to tackle poverty and reduce inequalities around the globe through sustainable development, is leveraging 3D printing in its next initiative. Specifically, the UNDP has acquired a construction 3D printer from Italian company WASP, which it will deploy in Colombia to construct buildings using locally sourced materials.
Construction 3D printing has long been heralded as a solution for building affordable housing and as the technology has advanced over the years, we are now starting to see that become a reality. The latest news on this front is coming out of Australia, where the government of New South Wales has announced its intention to use 3D printing to address a shortage in housing and build the first 3D printed social housing property in the Australian state.
Omantel, the first telecommunications company in Oman, has partnered with Innotech, an Omani 3D printing startup, to boost fish populations by 3D printing artificial reefs using concrete. The use of 3D printing technology offers several benefits with great importance in marine ecosystems. The companies will print eight 3D concrete units – which will act as a substrate for marine organisms to settle and grow – within Muscat.
According to Science Daily, a research team led by engineers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science is pioneering the exploration of how cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), a plant-based material, can enhance 3D printed concrete technology. The team’s findings will be published in the September 2024 issue of Cement and Concrete Composites.
Italy’s Fondazione ITS “Cantieri dell’Arte”, an educational institution specializing in architectural restoration, has acquired a large-scale Crane construction 3D printer from WASP. The school is the first in Italy to install a construction 3D printing system in-house and will use the technology in its training and research courses.
Construction 3D printing company ICON is building eight new homes in Wimberley Springs, a development just south of Austin, Texas. The single-family homes, which are currently being constructed using ICON’s robotic construction 3D printing process, are now on the market for purchase in the range of $800,000.
The Olympic games are all about breaking records and world firsts. This year, however, at the Paris 2024 Olympics, a world first is taking place even before the athletics begin. Construction company Saint-Gobain, an official partner of Paris 2024, has constructed the first ever 3D printed skatepark. The park, which spans 400m², is opening on July 18th on the Esplanade de Paris La Défense and was conceived as a way to extend the inclusive spirit of the games to the public.
ChangeMaker 3D, a 3D printing service provider based in Gloucester, England, in collaboration with CyBe Construction, has developed a solution to the shortage of public bathrooms at train stations across the UK – modular, 3D printed Toilet Pods. Transport for Wales first identified the need in 2022 – seeing an opportunity for innovation in train station amenities.