News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Black Buffalo 3D, a construction 3D printing company based out of New Jersey, is gearing up to 3D print a minimalist home design in Fort Worth, Texas on May 29 and 30th. Notably, the company is turning the build into a live event, inviting people from the additive and construction industries to witness its NEXCON 3D printing solution construct a code-compliant home.
In an attempt to address environmental challenges facing our oceans, Eke Panuku, a leading New Zealand-based sustainable development organization, has partnered with QOROX, a pioneering 3D concrete printing company, to create artificial barnacles aimed at improving marine biodiversity. The project leverages the unique capabilities of 3D printing to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of marine habitat structures.
Layer by layer, the new STRABAG BMTI (STRABAG Baumaschinentechnik International) warehouse in Stuttgart’s Weilimdorf district is growing upwards. Together with Putzmeister and its KARLOS mobile concrete printer, ZÜBLIN has developed an innovative construction method that is unique in the world. As part of their long-standing collaboration, the two companies are pooling their innovative strength to take 3D concrete printing to a new level. Their research aims to offer customers an even more flexible and sustainable printing process in the future.
Contour3D, a 3D construction company based in Sydney, NSW, has unveiled Australia’s first 3D printed one-bedroom home with a Full Occupation Certificate.
Innocrete3D, a young 3D construction printing (3DCP) company based in the UK, is set to provide the country with more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective construction solutions by not only providing affordable building themselves but also serving as a trusted reseller of CyBe Construction, a market leader in construction 3D printing technology. By entering into a reseller agreement with CyBe Construction, Innocrete3D has become the first official reseller in Europe.
In countries and areas like the US, Canada, China, Russia, the Middle East or Africa, the enormous availability of land often clashes with insufficient housing. New technologies such as 3D printing can help build houses better, cheaper, more sustainably and faster. For this reason, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced an over $600 million package that will research and develop new ideas and technology like prefabricated housing factories, mass timber production, penalization, 3D printing, and pre-approved home design catalogs.
According to the University of Maine (UMaine), researchers have secured a $75,000 grant to explore recycling wind blades as feedstock for 3D printing. The award is a Phase 1 winner from the Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office’s Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize. Led by the Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC), the WIND REWIND team’s project ‘Blades for Large-Format Additive Manufacturing’ marks a significant milestone in their mission to advance recycling solutions for a circular wind energy economy.
The world’s first on-site 3D printed large water tanks have been constructed in Kuwait, by Abyan, using a COBOD 3D construction printer – achieving a 25% savings on the amount of concrete and reinforcement used compared to casted tanks. Benefitting from the speed and design freedom of 3D construction printing, the tanks can be made faster, and more economically and sustainable than when using traditional formwork. The tanks – 4.5m in height and with a diameter of 7m – were 3D printed with low-cost concrete in just 5 days and only contained macro fibers for the reinforcement of the tank walls and no traditional reinforcement meshes.
Constructions-3D and Sika set a new world record with the construction of the tallest building ever made using 3D concrete printing technology. This project, realized in partnership with and using Sikacrete-733 materials from Sika, marks another milestone in the history of construction and 3D printing technology.
For many years 3D printed buildings were just one-floor houses. Then COBOD started working on two- and three-story habitable structures. Now, just after French firm Constructions-3D set a world record for the tallest 3D printed building with its construction 3D printing robotic arm, US firm ICON is getting in on the height game and introducing PHOENIX, its new multi-story robotic construction system.